EFSA Scientific report on the analysis of the 2‐year compulsory intensified monitoring of atypical scrapie
Scientific report on the analysis of the 2‐year compulsory intensified monitoring of atypical scrapie
Published: 8 July 2021 Approved: 14 June 2021
Metadata EFSA Journal 2021;19(7):6686 Keywords: atypical, goats, intensified monitoring, scrapie, sheep, surveillance
On request from: European Commission
Question Number: EFSA‐Q‐2020‐00662
Contact: biocontam@efsa.europa.eu
Note: The Protocol is available under ‘ Supporting Information’.
Abstract
The European Commission asked EFSA whether the scientific data on the 2‐year intensified monitoring in atypical scrapie (AS) outbreaks (2013–2020) provide any evidence on the contagiousness of AS, and whether they added any new knowledge on the epidemiology of AS. An ad hoc data set from intensified monitoring in 22 countries with index case/s of AS in sheep and/or goats (742 flocks from 20 countries, 76 herds from 11 countries) was analysed. No secondary cases were confirmed in goat herds, while 35 secondary cases were confirmed in 28 sheep flocks from eight countries. The results of the calculated design prevalence and of a model simulation indicated that the intensified monitoring had limited ability to detect AS, with no difference between countries with or without secondary cases. A regression model showed an increased, but not statistically significant, prevalence (adjusted by surveillance stream) of secondary cases in infected flocks compared with that of index cases in the non‐infected flocks (general population). A simulation model of within‐flock transmission, comparing a contagious (i.e. transmissible between animals under natural conditions) with a non‐contagious scenario, produced a better fit of the observed data with the non‐contagious scenario, in which each sheep in a flock had the same probability of developing AS in the first year of life. Based on the analyses performed, and considering uncertainties and data limitations, it was concluded that there is no new evidence that AS can be transmitted between animals under natural conditions, and it is considered more likely (subjective probability range 50–66%) that AS is a non‐contagious, rather than a contagious disease. The analysis of the data of the EU intensified monitoring in atypical scrapie infected flocks/herds confirmed some of the known epidemiological features of AS but identified that major knowledge gaps still remain.
Declarations of interest: The declarations of interest of all scientic experts active in EFSA’s workare available at https://ess.efsa.europa.eu/doi/doiweb/doisearch.
Acknowledgements: EFSA w ishes to thank its BIOHAZ Panel (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards) forendorsing this scientic report on 3 June 2021, and Katrin Bote for her contributions to the drafting ofthis scientic output.
Suggested citation: EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), Arnold M, Ru G, Simmons M, Vidal-DiezA, Ortiz-Pelaez A and Stella P, 2021. Scientic report on the analysis of the 2-year compulsoryintensied monitoring of atypical scrapie. EFSA Journal 2021;19(7):6686, 45 pp.
ISSN: 1831-4732© 2021 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalfof European Food Safe ty Authority.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License,which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and nomodications or adaptations are made.
Summary Since 1 July 2013, according to point 2.2.3 of Chapter B of Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001, holdings with a confirmed case of atypical scrapie are to be subject to an intensified transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) monitoring protocol for a period of 2 years, during which all ovine and caprine animals that are over the age of 18 months and slaughtered for human consumption and all ovine and caprine animals over the age of 18 months that have died or been killed on the holding must be tested for the presence of TSE.
Under the framework of Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the European Commission requested EFSA to answer the following questions (Terms of Reference, ToR): 1) Do the scientific data on the 2-year intensified monitoring collected by the European Commission provide any evidence on the contagiousness of atypical scrapie? 2) Do the scientific data on the 2-year intensified monitoring collected by the European Commission provide any other new knowledge on the epidemiology of atypical scrapie?
The data, from 2013 to 2020, pertaining to the implementation of intensified TSE monitoring protocols by the Member States and a few third countries, were collected by DG SANTE and shared with the Biological Hazards and Contaminants unit in EFSA. These mandate data were not intended to be a full data set allowing comprehensive epidemiological analysis. They were based on a retrospective investigation and restricted to those infected flocks/herds identified through surveillance.
The ToR were translated into the following assessment questions (AQs): AQ1: Is the prevalence of atypical scrapie (AS) in the entirety of sheep/goat flocks/herds under intensified monitoring statistically higher than that in the general population of the same EU Member States in the period 2013–2019? AQ2: Based on a simulation model of the dynamics of AS in a flock, which one of two scenarios (contagious vs. non-contagious) better fits the observed intensified monitoring data? AQ3: Can any of the identified gaps in the knowledge of the epidemiology of AS be filled by the analysis of the mandate data?
The first two assessment questions were addressed quantitatively, analysing the data provided with the mandate (mandate data) and data from TSE surveillance (general data) through a descriptive and comparative analysis (AQ1) and through a modelling approach (AQ2). Results from these analyses were then used to answer ToR1. The third assessment question, answering ToR2, was addressed qualitatively, reviewing evidence from the literature based on the knowledge of the experts involved in the Working Group drafting this scientific report. Gaps in relation to current knowledge on the epidemiology of AS were identified as the first step. When a conclusion arising from the analysis carried out within ToR1 led to the clarification of any aspect of the identified knowledge gaps, this was discussed in a narrative way in the report. Knowledge gaps that the ToR1 analysis was unable to address were listed in the report.
The intensified monitoring data from 22 countries resulted, after aggregations and data cleaning, in a final data set containing 742 flock IDs from 20 countries, in which the index case of AS (first case of AS detected in a flock previously registered as non-infected or not under intensified monitoring) was a sheep. A total of 41,860 sheep were tested (median: 616; range: 1–16,460). As a result of this testing, 35 secondary cases of AS were reported in 28 infected flocks (3.8%) from eight countries.
There were 76 herd IDs from 11 countries in which the index case of AS was a goat. The total number of goats tested as part of the 2-year intensified monitoring in infected herds by these 11 countries was 4,865 (median: 12 range: 0–3,682). No secondary cases of AS were detected in these infected herds.
A negative binomial regression model was built using data from the 20 countries that reported AS and limited to the two surveillance streams ‘slaughtered for human consumption’ (SHC) and ‘not slaughtered for human consumption’ (NSHC). The regression model showed a non-statistically significant stream-adjusted prevalence ratio (PR: 1.56; 95% CI: 0.96–2.51) when comparing the prevalence of secondary cases in infected flocks (mandate data) with the prevalence of index cases in the non-infected flocks, a proxy for the prevalence in the general population in the period 2013–2019 (general data).
The design prevalence, for the subset of flocks and herds with sufficient data to allow the calculation, was, in general, low with 4% of the flocks and 16% of the herds in the mandate data set with a design prevalence of 1% Year 1, and 5.3% and 8.7% in Year 2, respectively. In general, there was no difference between countries with/without secondary cases, except for the design prevalence < 1% in Year 1.
Using a threshold of a maximum difference of 15 affected animals between the model and observed total number of cases for the intensified surveillance, the simulation of the within-flock transmission model produced the following estimates: a transmission rate 5 × 10–4 (95% CI: 1.7 × 10–4–1.1 × 10–3) for the contagious scenario and 2.8 × 10–3 (95% CI: 1.2 × 10–3–54.9 × 10–3) occurrence rate for the non-contagious scenario. The model produced a better fit for the non-contagious scenario than for the contagious scenario: only 132 of 10,000 iterations of the contagious scenario (1.3%) resulted in a simulated total number of detected positives within 15 of the observed, whereas 1,578 of iterations of the non-contagious scenario (15.8%) were within the 15 case threshold. Applying the assumptions of the model, the overall sensitivity of the intensified monitoring was low. Sensitivity analysis considering different age distributions of the sheep population and varying the diagnostic sensitivity of the test did not modify the conclusions. Given the uncertainties in the parameters, the model assumptions and the method(s) applied to estimate the fit of the model to the observed data, the estimated transmission rates/occurrence rates and the conclusion on the preferred scenario (contagious vs. non-contagious) need to be interpreted with caution. It is not possible to conclude definitively that atypical scrapie is non-contagious based on the model results.
The descriptive analysis of the general and mandate data sets has confirmed that AS is geographically widespread in the EU in sheep and goats, primarily affecting countries with medium- to large-scale populations of either sheep or goats. For goats, the pattern is similar, although the number of countries with cases is smaller. It also confirmed that the detection of cases of AS in general, and of multiple cases of AS cases overlapping in time in the same holding, are rare events in the European small ruminant population, with some exceptions in Portugal and Hungary.
The results of the analyses of the data collected by the intensified monitoring do not provide additional information on several aspects of the epidemiology of AS, including the existence of risk factors other than age or genotype at population and individual level; the possible origin of the disease; any variability of AS strains circulating in the EU small ruminant population and respective susceptibility of small ruminants; the natural evolution of the disease; nor do they offer any reasons for the apparent differences in epidemiology of the disease in sheep and goats.
Based on the analyses of the data obtained from the intensified monitoring, and accounting for uncertainties and data limitations, it was concluded that there is no new evidence that AS can be transmitted between animals under natural conditions, and it is considered more likely (subjective probability range 50–66%) that AS is a non-contagious, rather than a contagious, disease.
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3.6.4 Concluding remarks Overall, the model fitting exercise indicates that AS behaving more like a non-contagious disease is more consistent with the observed data than AS behaving like a contagious disease. It also indicates that changes in key parameters (age distribution and diagnostic test sensitivity) do not influence this conclusion but does affect the rates of transmission/rates of occurrence. This is especially the case for the diagnostic test sensitivity, which is itself highly uncertain, and the pessimistic estimate of sensitivity produced estimates of the rate of occurrence approximately 10-fold that of the more optimistic estimates of test sensitivity.
Given the uncertainties in the parameters, the necessity of using a model with simplified assumptions and the method/s applied to estimate the fit of the model to the observed data, the estimated transmission rates/occurrence rates and the conclusion on the preferred scenario (contagious vs. non-contagious) need to be interpreted with caution. It is not possible to conclude definitively that AS is non-contagious on the basis of the ABC model results. It is also not possible with this model to attempt to fit a combination of direct animal transmission and natural occurrence of AS because there is insufficient power in the data.
An example of the effect of a key feature of AS that has not been accounted for in the model is the variable susceptibility by genotype. Inclusion of genotype could significantly influence model behaviour. E.g. if only a small proportion of a flock was of the more susceptible genotypes, then after these became infected, infection would be likely to die out within the flock. However, the current model would predict infection continuing to spread as it assumes all animals are equally susceptible.
3.6.5 Uncertainty associated with the simulation model
Table 9. Sources of uncertainty associated with the simulation model and their possible impact on the estimates obtained
Source of uncertainty Cause of the uncertainty Impact of the uncertainty on the conclusions
Number of initial infected sheep in each flock at start of model simulations
No way to determine the historical number of infected animals in each affected flock
It is possible that there would be multiple infected sheep in some flocks at the point at which the model starts simulating transmission. This would mean that a lower transmission rate would be required for the model to fit the observed data. It is unlikely to change the conclusion on the better fit to the data of the non-contagious model, as the presence of more infected sheep would not change the pattern of the transmission model having more positive sheep Year 2 compared with Year 1.
Sheep are only susceptible in their first year of life.
Experimental studies, using CS only, have been able to determine that adults are less susceptible than lambs, but not able to infer any quantitative estimates of relative risk of infection by age. There are no data on age susceptibility to AS challenge/exposure.
Susceptibility of adults would require an adaptation of the incubation period distribution, making it shorter to fit the surveillance data from which it was estimated. This would increase the sensitivity estimates of the test, lowering estimated transmission rates. However, it would be unlikely to influence the conclusion that the non-contagious model fitted the data better than the contagious one.
Impact of genotype
There is no genotype information available for the sheep flocks in the data set. The model assumes all sheep in infected flocks are equally susceptible to AS.
The lack of genotype specific information on the flocks means that the model will overestimate the number of susceptible sheep in each flock. In some flocks, there could be an impact of a reduction in the susceptible population over time if a significant proportion of the susceptible sheep become infected. It is difficult to rule out the possibility that inclusion of genotype would enable the model to produce a considerably better fit to the data than the current model without genotype information. Therefore, conclusions on the non-contagious model fitting better need to be interpreted with caution.
Mandate data for goats
Due to the lack of secondary cases in the goat data set, there was no possibility to fit the simulation model to the observed goat data It was not possible to test which of the two options (contagious vs. non-contagious) tested by the simulation model fits better the goat data.
Model fitting metric for the approximate Bayesian computation approach
The metric used to calculate the error between the model output and the observed data can have an impact on the findings of the model. It is possible in this case, given the low power of the data, that this could have an effect on the comparison between the contagious and non-contagious models. This factor makes the conclusion on the superior fit of the non-contagious model more uncertain.
3.7 Knowledge gaps on the epidemiology of AS Section 3.1 of this report provides an overview of the aspects of the clinical presentation, pathogenesis, pathology, genetics, transmissibility and epidemiology of AS, also in comparison with the features of CS. In particular, Section 3.1.5 reviews aspects related to the epidemiology of this disease. From this section it is clear that some data gaps remain in the knowledge on the occurrence and characteristics of AS and related risk factors.
As requested in the ToRs, this report is focused on the analysis of a specific data set, i.e. the data from the EU intensified surveillance carried out in AS-infected flocks and herds between 2013 and 2019. The analysis of this data set confirms and provides additional knowledge on some aspects of the epidemiology of AS, which are described in Section 3.7.2 below. However, given the nature of the data provided, many other aspects cannot be clarified, and remain as open questions. These are listed in Section 3.7.3.
3.7.1 The nature of the mandate data Some considerations should be made regarding the data set analysed before discussing to what extent its analysis can lead to filling the current data gaps.
The mandate data are not intended to be a full data set allowing comprehensive analysis. They are based on a retrospective investigation, restricted to those infected flocks/herds identified through surveillance. No data have been obtained from a suitable ‘control’ group of e.g. non-infected flocks. Moreover, no ad hoc questionnaires have been administered to collect high-resolution data at flock level and only data that are known to be held in national databases were requested. By definition, data were suitable for hypotheses formulation but not for hypothesis testing on risk factors of AS. No data on potentially relevant covariates such as genotype or age at individual, flock and population levels were available.
The data set analysed is based on the heterogeneous implementation of intensified monitoring, according to the legislation, and only collected for the mandate over a short time frame and considering only the surveillance data that EU countries usually hold. Moreover, the duration of the intensified monitoring was not long enough to fit a model that simulates the transmission within flocks of AS over a longer period of time. In fact, the 2-year period is the bare minimum to simulate any within-flock transmission: between Year 1 and Year 2.
The data set collated by the European Commission provided robust data that allowed the description of the occurrence of AS in infected flocks and herds. However, the data set is not complete in terms of the requested fields, especially for some of those that have been used in the analyses, such as the number of breeding animals and the number of animals tested during the 2-year period. This required some assumptions to be made in the analysis, as discussed previously.
3.7.2 Answers to knowledge gaps from the analysis of the mandate data
This has been the first attempt to analyse the data from the intensified monitoring undertaken by EU, and other reporting countries implementing small ruminant surveillance as per Commission Regulation (EU) 999/2001, since its enforcement in 2013. This intensified monitoring had limited sensitivity to detect AS cases in infected flocks/herds (see Sections 3.4 and 3.6.4). The analysis undertaken informed some considerations with regard to the epidemiology of AS:
The descriptive analysis of the general and mandate data sets has confirmed that AS is a type of TSE that is widespread in Europe, affecting most of the EU countries with medium- to large-scale sheep populations. For goats, the pattern is similar, although the number of countries with cases is smaller, probably due to the different distribution and abundance of goats in Europe (goats are bred in fewer countries and the populations are smaller), and the prevalence of index cases is in general lower (seven times lower) than in sheep.
The results of the analysis confirmed that multiple cases of AS overlapping in time in the same holding is a rarely detected event in the European small ruminant population.
The mandate data have revealed exceptions to this pattern, such as a Hungarian holding in which seven secondary cases, three in Year 1 and four in Year 2 were detected. The size of this holding (12,970 sheep) and the level of testing Year 1 and Year 2: 1,143 and 3,102 tested, respectively, resulted in a prevalence of 2.6 × 10−3 in Year 1 and 1.3 × 10−3 in Year 2. A second Hungarian holding in which two secondary cases were detected in Year 1 (2,805 tested) resulted in a prevalence of 7.1 × 10−4. The prevalence levels in these two holdings with multiple cases (> 1) lead to speculation about the level of occurrence of AS as a sporadic disease and the ability to detect secondary cases: 7–10 cases per 10,000 animals. In flocks/herds of standard size (< 500), it would be extremely unlikely (1–5%) to detect a secondary case in surveillance, should it be present in the flock, even if assuming an equal prevalence in the NSHC and SHC streams.
In countries with secondary cases, the observed prevalence of AS in infected sheep flocks is consistently higher than in the general surveillance population: after combining the testing of the SHC and NSHC streams, there was a PR of 1.56, higher in infected flocks in all countries considered in the analysis, but despite this trend the difference was not statistically significant. If the PR was significant, there would be a need to consider the hypothesis that in the infected flocks/herds there is/are risk factor/s that increase the probability of AS compared with the non-infected flocks/herds, either at host level (genotype, age) or at flock level (see next section).
3.7.3 Remaining knowledge gaps
A list of questions on aspects of the epidemiology of AS that are unknown, or for which there are not complete answers, has been compiled by the Working Group. After the analysis of the mandate data and the answers to ToR1, the following questions remain unanswered:
Are there risk factors at population level for AS? Are certain countries/regions/breeds/husbandry systems more likely to be associated with higher incidence/prevalence of AS than others, and if so, why?
Why does Portugal have such a high prevalence of AS in sheep in the period 2013–2019 in the SHC stream (9.8 cases per 10,000 tests; 95% CI: 7.3–13) and the NSHC stream (12.7 cases per 10,000 tests; 95% CI: 10.6–15), relative to any other EU country?
Effect of individual risk factors on population risk factors: does a different genotype distribution in the general population make certain countries more likely to have AS cases?
Are there risk factors at an individual level, other than age and genotype? Are there any individual risk factors that make certain individuals more likely to acquire the infection and develop the disease?
Is age a confounding factor that explains the higher probability of detecting AS in the NSHC stream?
Can the within-flock frequency of susceptible genotypes explain the observed multiple cases in the two Hungarian flocks or is the high sampling level in those two flocks the reason for the detection of multiple cases?
If AS is not contagious, what is/are the origin of, and risk factors for, the disease?
If the disease is due to an endogenous mutation/conversion of PrPC into PrPSc, what are the risk factors triggering the conversion (e.g. age, health status, genotype, concomitant diseases, etc.)?
Are there strains of AS circulating in the small ruminant populations of Europe that affect the epidemiological presentation of AS? If so, what is the species susceptibility to different AS strains?
The prevalence of AS in goats is apparently lower than that in sheep in the EU. The lack of secondary cases in goat herds included in the mandate data, as opposed to the sheep flocks, seems to corroborate this. Is it a real phenomenon or does it reflect other factors, or combinations of factors such as: a lower surveillance sensitivity, a different genotype susceptibility/distribution, demographics/husbandry differences between sheep and goats, a different susceptibility of sheep and goats to AS?
Are there any polymorphisms in the PRNP gene of goats conferring different levels of susceptibility/resistance to AS?
What is the natural evolution of AS in sheep and goats in field cases, from infection to death due to the disease: incubation period, incubation period vs. longevity/commercial longevity, mortality rates, pathogenesis and clinical profile?
Is there any association or causal relationship between CS and AS at an individual or population level, or any association with other naturally-occurring TSEs in other species?
4 Conclusions
Based on data gathered from the intensified monitoring carried out in the EU and EEA countries:
There were 742 flocks from 19 EU countries and Norway in which the index case of AS was a sheep. A total of 41,860 animals from these flocks were tested within the 2-year intensified monitoring period, allowing the identification of 35 AS secondary cases from eight countries. They were all single secondary cases except for two large flocks reporting two and seven secondary cases, respectively.
There were 76 herds from 10 EU countries and Norway in which the index case of AS was a goat; 4,865 animals from these herds were tested within the 2-year intensified monitoring period, with no AS secondary cases identified.
With different levels of completeness, the mandate data set contains data on 87.8% and 97.4% of all AS cases reported in sheep and goats, respectively, during the period 2013–2019.
The mandate data do not allow testing of hypotheses on the epidemiology of AS. No additional data associated with each individual case/infected flock were available, nor were control data from non-infected flocks.
Term of Reference 1: Do the scientific data on the 2-year intensified monitoring collected by the European Commission provide any evidence on the contagiousness of atypical scrapie?
AQ1: Is the prevalence of atypical scrapie (AS) in the entirety of sheep/goat flocks/herds under intensified monitoring statistically higher than that in the general population of the same EU Member States in the period 2013–2019?
A negative binomial regression model was built with data from the 20 countries that reported AS and limited to the slaughtered for human consumption (SHC) and non-slaughtered for human consumption (NSHC) streams.
The results showed a higher, but not statistically significant, stream-adjusted prevalence of AS in infected sheep flocks (included in the intensified monitoring, i.e. mandate data), compared with that of non-infected flocks (a proxy for the prevalence in the general population of the same EU Member States in the period 2013–2019, i.e. general data).
AQ2: Based on a simulation model of the dynamics of AS in a flock, which one of two scenarios (contagious vs. non-contagious) better fits the observed intensified monitoring data?
Overall, the results obtained from the simulation model indicate that the non-contagious scenario is more consistent with the observed data than the contagious one. AS in infected flocks behaves more like a disease in which there is a very low and the same probability of any animal to become infected, akin to a non-contagious disease.
However, and due to the uncertainties and data limitations, conclusions on the non-contagious model fitting better need to be interpreted with caution. A small proportion of iterations of the contagious scenario (1.3%) resulted in a simulated number of cases close to the observed ones, which implies that AS may behave as a contagious disease with a very low transmission rate.
Overall answer to ToR 1
The intensified monitoring applied to flocks and herds with index cases of AS has limited ability to detect AS, based on the calculated design prevalence and on the model simulation on the detectable AS cases, with no difference between countries with or without secondary cases.
Countries without secondary cases in sheep, and the absence of observed secondary cases in goats, precluded the replication of the same analyses for all countries and species, but these are notable epidemiological features themselves. Possible explanations of these findings could relate to the absence of spread within infected flocks/herds or an insufficient sensitivity of the surveillance at population level.
Based on the analyses of the data obtained from the intensified monitoring, and accounting for uncertainties and data limitations, it was concluded that: oThere is no new evidence that AS can be transmitted between animals under natural conditions.
oIt is considered more likely (subjective probability range 50–66%) that AS is a non-contagious, rather than a contagious, disease.
Term of Reference 2: Do the scientific data on the 2-year intensified monitoring collected by the European Commission provide any other new knowledge on the epidemiology of atypical scrapie?
AQ3: Can any of the identified gaps in the knowledge of the epidemiology of AS be filled by the analysis of the mandate data?
The results of the analysis confirmed that:
oAS is geographically widespread in the EU in sheep and goats, primarily affecting countries with medium–large populations of either sheep or goats.
oThe confirmation of cases of AS in general, and of multiple cases overlapping in time in the same holding, are rare events in the European small ruminant population, with some exceptions in Portugal and Hungary.
oThe AS prevalence rates in goats are lower than in sheep.
The results of the analysis revealed that:
oThe pattern observed in the countries where the prevalence comparison was possible, showing higher AS prevalence within infected flocks (although not statistically significant), might be compatible either with some transmissibility, exposure to unknown risk factors or sampling bias in the infected flocks.
oThere is an apparent higher prevalence of AS among animals sourced in the NSHC stream than in the SHC stream, that could be explained by the potential confounding effect of age, which is a known risk factor, or by other unknown factors.
The results of the analyses of the data collected by the intensified monitoring do not provide additional information on several aspects of the epidemiology of AS, including the existence of risk factors other than age or genotype at population and individual level; the possible origin of the disease; any variability of AS strains circulating in the EU small ruminant population and respective susceptibility of small ruminants; the natural evolution of the disease; nor do they offer any reasons for the apparent differences in epidemiology of the disease in sheep and goats.
Notes
1 OJ L 179, 29.6.2013, p. 60.
2 Scientific Opinion on the scrapie situation in the EU after 10 years of monitoring and control in sheep and goats. EFSA Journal 2014;12(7):3781, 155 pp. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2014.3781
3 Commission Regulation (EC) 999/2001 refers to the enhanced surveillance as intensified monitoring, which is the term used throughout this report.
4 https://ec.europa.eu/food/system/files/2016-10/biosafety_food-borne-disease_tse_ms-annual-report_2013.pdf
5 https://ec.europa.eu/food/system/files/2016-10/biosafety_food-borne-disease_tse_ms-annual-report_2014.pdf
6 https://www.fp7-risksur.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Deliverables/RISKSUR_%28310806%29_D6.24.pdf
7 https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=EasyABC
8 https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=abc
9 Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2001/999/oj
10 Genotype groups according to the National Scrapie Plan (Great Britain) based on the level of resistance/susceptibility to classical scrapie: NSP1: ARR/ARR (Genetically most resistant); NSP2: ARR/ARQ; ARR/ARH; ARR/AHQ (Genetically resistant); NSP3: ARQ/ARQ (Genetically little resistant); NSP3 Other: AHQ/AHQ; ARH/ARH; ARH/ARQ; AHQ/ARH; AHQ/ARQ (Susceptible); NSP4 : ARR/VRQ (Genetically susceptible); NSP5: ARQ/VRQ; ARH/VRQ; AHQ/VRQ; VRQ/VRQ (Genetically highly susceptible) Susceptible.
12 Italian Sheep Registration and Identification database https://www.vetinfo.it/j6_statistiche/#/report-pbi/89
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SNIP...END...see full text;
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***> AS is considered more likely (subjective probability range 50–66%) that AS is a non-contagious, rather than a contagious, disease.
National Scrapie Eradication Program May 2021 Monthly Report Fiscal Year 2021
U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services
Strategy and Policy, Ruminant Health Center Small Ruminant Health
June 15, 2021
Program Summary
Performance Measures – The percent of cull black-faced sheep found positive at slaughter (Chart 1) is 0.036% in FY2021, and the percent of cull sheep found positive at slaughter and adjusted for face color1 (Chart 2) is 0.004%in FY2021.
Scrapie Testing Results2 – Nor98-like scrapie was confirmed in 1 sheep sampled at slaughter in October 2020. A classical scrapie case was identified in a black-faced sheep sampled at slaughter in January 2021.
1White, black and mottled-faced color sheep are weighted based on population; white-faced sheep have the greatest weight. If a white-faced positive sheep is found, this statistic will markedly increase. See notes below. 2 Samples collected between October 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021, and confirmed by May 15, 2021.
Program Summary
Infected and Source Flocks – An infected sheep and goat herd was identified in Wisconsin on March 16, 2021, related to the positive ewe found in January 2021. One flock in Texas has an open infected status since April 2016, but there are no exposed animals on the premises. Animals in the Texas herd designated for test must be sampled and valid test results obtained before the status can be closed. The number of newly designated infected and source flocks by year since 1997, is shown in Chart 3. The peak was in 2005 with 180 flocks.
Scrapie in Goats –The total number of NVSL confirmed positive cases in goats is 44 since FY 2002. Samples from three of these positive animals were collected through RSSS, one in November 2014, the second in July 2018, and the most recent in June 2019. The remainder of the positive cases have been found through testing of clinical suspects, testing of exposed animals, and trace-out investigations. Figure 1 shows the number of positive cases by State and by fiscal year of last reported case.
Surveillance
Surveillance activities are reported by Field Operations Districts shown in Figure 3. Surveillance minimums are based on estimated breeding sheep and goat populations in each State and their risk level. The distribution of sheep and goat populations by District is depicted in Chart 5.
Components of Scrapie Surveillance
• Regulatory Scrapie Slaughter Surveillance (RSSS) started April 1, 2003. It is a targeted slaughter surveillance program which is designed to identify infected flocks. Samples have been collected from 687,856 animals since April 1, 2003. As of May 31, 2021, 19,235 samples have been collected in FY 2021, 14,213 from sheep and 5,022 from goats. There have been 491 NVSL confirmed positive animals (474 classical cases – 471 sheep and 3 goats) and 17 Nor98-like cases since the beginning of RSSS. One sheep sampled in January 2021 tested positive for classical scrapie.
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Sent: Mon, Apr 12, 2021 11:07 am
Subject: Transmission of the atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent to Suffolk sheep with VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes
Transmission of the atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent to Suffolk sheep with VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes
Eric D. Cassmann,Najiba Mammadova,S. Jo Moore,Sylvie Benestad,Justin J. Greenlee
Published: February 11, 2021https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246503
Citation: Cassmann ED, Mammadova N, Moore SJ, Benestad S, Greenlee JJ (2021) Transmission of the atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent to Suffolk sheep with VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0246503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246503
Editor: Gianluigi Zanusso, University of Verona, ITALY
Received: November 24, 2020; Accepted: January 21, 2021; Published: February 11, 2021
Abstract
Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that occurs in sheep. Atypical/Nor98 scrapie occurs in sheep that tend to be resistant to classical scrapie and it is thought to occur spontaneously. The purpose of this study was to test the transmission of the Atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent in three genotypes of Suffolk sheep and characterize the distribution of misfolded prion protein (PrPSc). Ten sheep were intracranially inoculated with brain homogenate from a sheep with Atypical/Nor98 scrapie. All sheep with the ARQ/ARQ and ARQ/ARR genotypes developed Atypical/Nor98 scrapie confirmed by immunohistochemistry, and one sheep with the VRQ/ARQ genotype had detectable PrPSc consistent with Atypical/Nor98 scrapie at the experimental endpoint of 8 years. Sheep with mild early accumulations of PrPSc in the cerebellum had concomitant retinal PrPSc. Accordingly, large amounts of retinal PrPSc were identified in clinically affected sheep and sheep with dense accumulations of PrPSc in the cerebellum.
Introduction
Atypical/Nor98 scrapie (AS) is a fatal prion disease of sheep caused by a misfolded form of the prion protein. Unlike classical scrapie (CS), AS is thought to be a spontaneously occurring disease [1–3]. This is supported by the presence of AS in countries that are free of classical scrapie [4, 5]. It typically affects a single older sheep within a flock, and cases of AS are sporadic and isolated suggesting that natural transmission is unlikely.
The susceptibility of sheep to CS is closely related to polymorphisms in the prion protein gene (PRNP) [6, 7]. Polymorphisms associated with susceptibility or resistance to CS occur at codons 136, 154, and 171. Sheep with the V136R154Q171 and A136R154Q171 haplotypes are susceptible to CS; however, the amino acid polymorphisms A136, R154, and R171 are associated with relative resistance [8–10]. Conversely, naturally occurring cases of AS arise in sheep with the AHQ, ARQ, and ARR haplotypes, and a polymorphism substituting phenylalanine (F) at codon 141 in the PRNP gene increases the risk of AS [11–13].
Several experiments have demonstrated the ability of the AS agent to transmit within the natural host after intracranial inoculation [14–16]. One study found that the AS agent could transmit after a high oral dose of AS brain homogenate [17]. Nonetheless, AS is still considered unlikely to transmit under field conditions; therefore, eradication and surveillance programs for CS have allowed exceptions for AS. As research into AS unfolds, the biological relevance of this disease is gaining attention. Two studies have demonstrated phenotype changes in AS that imply a possible origin for classical scrapie [18] and classical BSE [19]. The present study was designed to generate AS brain material for subsequent projects to investigate interspecies transmission events. Herein, we report our findings after the experimental transmission of AS in sheep with the VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes. This study validates previous work on these genotypes and documents the early accumulation of PrPSc in the retina of sheep with AS.
Results and discussion
All three genotypes of sheep, VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR, were susceptible to the AS agent after intracranial inoculation of donor brain homogenate. The diagnosis of AS was confirmed by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) with the latter being confirmative. Previous studies have demonstrated experimental transmission of AS to AHQ/AHQ [14, 15] and ARQ/ARQ [16] genotype sheep after intracerebral transmission. Another study showed a phenotypic shift from AS to CH1641-like classical scrapie in a sheep with the AHQ/AHQ genotype [18]. In this study, sheep with the ARQ/ARR genotype had the shortest incubation period ranging from 4.9 years to the experimental endpoint of 8 years (Table 1), and the attack rate was 100% (5/5). Clinical signs were observed in all ARQ/ARR sheep except for a single wether that was culled early to help establish experimental endpoints. Three ARQ/ARR genotype sheep were euthanized due to clinical neurologic disease 4.9–6.7 years post-inoculation. Out of the three genotypes examined, only the ARQ/ARR genotype sheep developed clinical neurologic disease within the eight-year incubation period. In clinically neurologic sheep, we observed stiff legged and hypermetric ataxia (dysmetria), abnormal rear stance, generalized tremors, tremors of the lips, weight loss, and generalized malaise. The spectrum of clinical signs was comparable to other reports of experimental AS in sheep [14, 15]. Three ARQ/ARR genotype sheep (804, 927 and 948) with the most severe dysmetria also had the greatest amount of cerebellar PrPSc. Since dysmetria is typical of animals with cerebellar disease [20], the tendency to observe this as the most consistent and severe neurologic sign is likely related to the characteristic cerebellar accumulation of PrPSc in sheep with AS. The ARQ/ARQ genotype had a long incubation period and remained clinically asymptomatic, as also reported by Okada et al. [16].
Table 1. Results of atypical scrapie transmission in Suffolk sheep. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246503.t001
Sheep with the ARQ/ARQ genotype were positive for AS PrPSc by IHC (2/2). One positive wether remained asymptomatic and was necropsied at the experimental endpoint; whereas, the other sheep was culled due to intercurrent disease around four years post-inoculation. Out of the three original VRQ/ARQ genotype sheep, a single presymptomatic wether had PrPSc in the cerebellum and retina at the experimental endpoint of 8.1 years. The other two sheep succumbed to intercurrent disease, and they did not have detectable PrPSc by means of IHC or EIA at 1.2- and 2.9-years post-inoculation. The VRQ allele, that is generally associated with susceptibility to classical scrapie, is usually absent from naturally occurring AS cases [5, 12, 21]. However, in a study of AS cases from Great Britain, a single VRQ/ARQ case was reported [22]. The prolonged incubation period after intracranial inoculation of AS in a VRQ/ARQ genotype sheep is compatible with the low prevalence in field cases of AS. In fact, field cases of AS often have a polymorphism substituting phenylalanine (F) at codon 141 in the PRNP gene, and most cases have either the AF141RQ or AHQ alleles [12]. All of the sheep in this study contained the amino acid leucine (L) at codon 141.
In order to confirm that sheep had AS and rule out concomitant infection with classical scrapie, all tissues were examined by IHC for PrPSc. The distribution of PrPSc in the brains of sheep was consistent with AS. Immunolabeling of PrPSc appeared as granular and punctate deposits and was largely restricted to the molecular layer of the cerebellum (Fig 1A). Small amounts of punctate and granular staining were also seen in the cerebral cortex, basal nuclei, thalamus, and midbrain. In classical scrapie, PrPSc is found in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMNV), one of the early sites of central nervous system accumulation, and in the lymphoid tissue [3]. In the present experiment, PrPSc was observed in the spinal trigeminal tract (Fig 1B), and there was a lack of staining for PrPSc in the DMNV (Fig 1C). Additionally, no PrPSc was detectable by IHC in the lymphoid or peripheral tissues of any sheep; it remained confined to the CNS. Other studies have demonstrated infectivity in peripheral and lymphoid tissues that were IHC negative [17, 23]. This distribution of PrPSc in the present study was consistent with AS in sheep [1, 14]. Furthermore, all genotypes of sheep had similar PrPSc distributions; however, the density of staining was less severe in asymptomatic ARQ/ARQ and VRQ/ARQ genotype sheep. Given a longer incubation period culminating in clinical disease, it is expected that these genotypes would develop more severe PrPSc deposition similar to ARQ/ARR genotype sheep. PrPSc was also found in the spinal cords of each genotype of sheep. Staining of PrPSc appeared as small particulate or fine granular deposits in the dorsal horn. In sheep with the ARQ/ARR genotype, there was minimal PrPSc and it was usually observed in the cervical cord alone. Sheep 929 that lived to the experimental endpoint had PrPSc in both the cervical and thoracic cord segments. In sheep 958 (ARQ/ARQ) and 943 (VRQ/ARQ), there was a mild amount of PrPSc in the dorsal horn of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal cord segments. This differs from classical scrapie that involves the entire grey matter of the spinal cord in late stage disease [24].
Fig 1. Immunoreactivity of PrPSc in sheep with atypical scrapie.
(A) There is a large amount of PrPSc (red color) within the molecular layer of cerebellum in sheep 958 (ARQ/ARQ). (B) PrPSc (red color) is confined to the spinal trigeminal tract in the medulla oblongata in sheep 948 (ARQ/ARR). (C) The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (circle) is devoid of PrPSc in sheep 948. (D) There are multifocal patchy aggregates of PrPSc (red color) in the molecular layer of the cerebellum in sheep 943 (VRQ/ARQ). (E) A small amount of PrPSc (red color) is present in the retina of sheep 943. (F) In sheep 958 there are large amounts of PrPSc (red color) in the plexiform layers of the retina.
We performed both IHC and EIA on cerebellum, cerebrum (parietal cortex), and medulla oblongata at the level of the obex. For the ARQ/ARR and ARQ/ARQ genotype sheep, there was 100% (7/7) agreement between IHC and EIA at detecting PrPSc in the cerebellum. In contrast, the single positive VRQ/ARQ sheep was IHC positive and EIA negative in the cerebellum. This discrepancy was presumably due to the patchy and sparse distribution of PrPSc in the cerebellum (Fig 1D). PrPSc was rarely observed in other brain regions of this animal; however, PrPSc was detected in the retina with IHC (Fig 1E). Moreover, retinal PrPSc was present in each genotype of sheep with atypical scrapie PrPSc in the cerebellum. In clinical sheep with abundant cerebellar PrPSc, there were large amounts of PrPSc in the retina (Fig 1F). PrPSc occurred mostly in the inner and outer plexiform layers, but some minimal labeling was seen in the ganglion and nuclear cell layers. Other reports that describe atypical scrapie do not report retinal PrPSc [1–5, 14–16, 25, 26]. In this study, sheep intracranially inoculated with the atypical scrapie agent accumulated retinal PrPSc in the early stages of disease concomitant with cerebellar PrPSc. This is significant because, sequentially, retinal PrPSc accumulates early in disease; therefore, IHC of retinal tissue may be more sensitive compared to non-cerebellar brain regions.
This experiment demonstrated the transmission of atypical scrapie to three genotypes of sheep after intracranially inoculation, and it is the first study demonstrating experimental transmission to sheep with a VRQ/ARQ PRNP genotype. Additionally, atypical scrapie is further characterized by demonstrating early accumulation of PrPSc in the retina of experimentally inoculated sheep.
Materials and methods Animals for this experiment were derived from a known scrapie-free flock at the United States Department of Agriculture National Animal Disease Center in Ames, IA. This study used ten Suffolk sheep, nine wethers and one ewe. Nine sheep were 1 year old at the time of inoculation. A single sheep, #958, was 2 years old. Sheep in this study had three distinct PRNP genotypes: ARQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARR, and VRQ/ARQ. The genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction and Sanger sequencing as previously described [27]. Sheep were homozygous at other known polymorphic sites M112, G127, M137, S138, L141, R151, M157, N176, H180, Q189, T195, T196, R211, Q220, and R223.
The inoculum for this experiment was cerebral homogenate from an AHQ/ARH genotype sheep with atypical scrapie from Norway (Hedalen). The inoculum was obtained through a collaboration with Sylvie Benestad at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute. The brain homogenate was prepared as a 10% w/v homogenate. Sheep were intracranially inoculated with 1 ml (0.1 grams) of brain homogenate. The procedure has been described previously [28]. Briefly, the sheep were anesthetized with xylazine and a surgical field was prepped over the junction of parietal and frontal bones. A 1-cm skin incision was made, and then a 1-mm hole was drilled along the midline of the calvaria. A 9-cm spinal needle was inserted through the hole, and the inoculum was injected into the cranium. Sheep were kept in a biosecurity level 2 indoor pen for two weeks following inoculation and then moved to an outdoor area. They were fed a daily ration of pelleted and loose alfalfa hay. Sheep were monitored daily for any maladies or other clinical signs consistent with scrapie. The experimental endpoint for this experiment included the earliest of either unequivocal neurologic disease or 8 years post-inoculation. The final 8-year endpoint was established by performing a preliminarily cull of sheep 933 to help determine an appropriate endpoint. Sheep were euthanized at the onset of clinical disease or untreatable intercurrent disease. The method of euthanasia was intravenous administration of sodium pentobarbital as per label directions or as directed by an animal resources attending veterinarian. Clinical signs of disease included abnormalities in gate and/or stance, and ataxia.
A full post-mortem examination was performed on each sheep, and a routine set of tissues were collected consistent with previous experiments [29, 30]. A duplicate set of the following tissues were frozen or saved to 10% buffered neutral formalin: brain, spinal cord, pituitary, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, sciatic nerve, third eyelid, palatine tonsil, pharyngeal tonsil, lymph nodes (mesenteric, retropharyngeal, prescapular, and popliteal), spleen, esophagus, forestomaches, intestines, rectal mucosa, thymus, liver, kidney, urinary bladder, pancreas, salivary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal gland, trachea, lung, turbinate, nasal planum, heart, tongue, masseter, diaphragm, triceps brachii, biceps femoris, and psoas major. Formalin fixed tissues were processed, paraffin embedded, and sectioned at optimal thickness (brain, 4 μm; lymphoid, 3 μm; and other, 5 μm) for hematoxylin and eosin staining and IHC. For IHC, a cocktail of the monoclonal anti-PrPSc antibodies F89/160.1.5 [31] and F99/97.6.1 [32] was applied at a concentration of 5 μg/mL using an automated stainer. Frozen portions of cerebellum, parietal cerebral cortex, and brainstem at the level of the obex were homogenized and tested for the presence of PrPSc using a commercially available EIA (HerdChek; IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME) according to kit instructions.
Ethics statement
snip...
***> Atypical/Nor98 scrapie occurs in sheep that tend to be resistant to classical scrapie and it is thought to occur spontaneously.
***> Unlike classical scrapie (CS), AS is thought to be a spontaneously occurring disease [1–3].
***> It typically affects a single older sheep within a flock, and cases of AS are sporadic and isolated suggesting that natural transmission is unlikely.
***> Several experiments have demonstrated the ability of the AS agent to transmit within the natural host after intracranial inoculation [14–16].
***> One study found that the AS agent could transmit after a high oral dose of AS brain homogenate [17].
***> Nonetheless, AS is still considered unlikely to transmit under field conditions; therefore, eradication and surveillance programs for CS have allowed exceptions for AS.
I once again, with great urgency, strenuously urge the USDA and the OIE et al to revoke the exemption of the legal global trading of atypical Nor-98 scrapie TSE Prion, and make any and all, atypical scrapie a mandatory reportable disease ASAP!...terry
Research Project: Pathobiology, Genetics, and Detection of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: Transmission of the atypical/nor98 scrapie agent to suffolk sheep with VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes
Author item Cassmann, Eric item MAMMADOVA, JAJIBA - Orise Fellow item BENESTAD, SYLVIE - Norwegian Veterinary Institute item MOORE, SARA JO - Orise Fellow item Greenlee, Justin Submitted to: PLoS ONE Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/29/2021 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A
Interpretive Summary: Atypical scrapie is a prion disease that affects sheep. Unlike classical scrapie, atypical scrapie is thought to occur spontaneously, and it is unlikely to transmit between sheep under natural conditions. Another notable distinction between classical and atypical scrapie is the prion protein genotype of afflicted sheep and the locations in the brain where misfolded prions accumulate. Atypical scrapie generally occurs in sheep that are resistant to classical scrapie. Misfolded prions are predominantly found in the cerebellum for atypical scrapie and not in the brainstem as seen with classical scrapie. Atypical scrapie is a relevant disease because of its potential association with other prion diseases. Some research has shown that the atypical scrapie agent can undergo a transformation of disease forms that makes it appear like classical scrapie or classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease). Therefore, atypical scrapie is thought to be a possible source for these prion diseases. We investigated the transmission of the atypical scrapie agent to sheep with three different prion protein genotypes. A diagnosis of atypical scrapie was made in all three genotypes of sheep. Misfolded prion protein was detected earliest in the cerebellum and the retina. This is the first report describing the early accumulation of misfolded prions in the retina of sheep with atypical scrapie. Understanding where misfolded prions accumulate in cases of atypical scrapie can lead to better detection earlier in the disease. Furthermore, the materials derived from this experiment will aid in investigating origins of other prion diseases.
Technical Abstract: Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that occurs in sheep. Atypical/Nor98 scrapie occurs in sheep with that tend to be resistant to classical scrapie and it is thought to occur spontaneously. The purpose of this study was to test the transmission of the Atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent in three genotypes of Suffolk sheep and characterize the distribution of misfolded prion protein (PrPSc). Ten sheep were intracranially inoculated with brain homogenate from a sheep with Atypical/Nor98 scrapie. All sheep with the ARQ/ARQ and ARQ/ARR genotypes developed Atypical/Nor98 scrapie confirmed by immunohistochemistry, and one (1/3) sheep with the VRQ/ARQ genotype had detectable PrPSc consistent with Atypical/Nor98 scrapie at the experimental endpoint of 8 years. Sheep with mild early accumulations of PrPSc in the cerebellum had concomitant retinal PrPSc. Accordingly, large amounts of retinal PrPSc were identified in clinically affected sheep and sheep with dense accumulations of PrPSc in the cerebellum.
***> Atypical/Nor98 scrapie occurs in sheep that tend to be resistant to classical scrapie and it is thought to occur spontaneously.
***> Unlike classical scrapie (CS), AS is thought to be a spontaneously occurring disease [1–3].
***> It typically affects a single older sheep within a flock, and cases of AS are sporadic and isolated suggesting that natural transmission is unlikely.
***> Several experiments have demonstrated the ability of the AS agent to transmit within the natural host after intracranial inoculation [14–16].
***> One study found that the AS agent could transmit after a high oral dose of AS brain homogenate [17].
***> Nonetheless, AS is still considered unlikely to transmit under field conditions; therefore, eradication and surveillance programs for CS have allowed exceptions for AS.
Atypical Nor-98 Scrapie TSE Prion USA State by State Update January 2021
PLEASE NOTE;
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080102193705/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m11b/tab01.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11573
PRION 2016 TOKYO
Saturday, April 23, 2016
SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016
Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online
Taylor & Francis
Prion 2016 Animal Prion Disease Workshop Abstracts
WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential
Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion.
These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19336896.2016.1163048?journalCode=kprn20
Title: Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent incubation period)
*** In complement to the recent demonstration that humanized mice are susceptible to scrapie, we report here the first observation of direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to a macaque after a 10-year incubation period. Neuropathologic examination revealed all of the features of a prion disease: spongiform change, neuronal loss, and accumulation of PrPres throughout the CNS.
*** This observation strengthens the questioning of the harmlessness of scrapie to humans, at a time when protective measures for human and animal health are being dismantled and reduced as c-BSE is considered controlled and being eradicated.
*** Our results underscore the importance of precautionary and protective measures and the necessity for long-term experimental transmission studies to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal prion strains.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=313160
PLEASE NOTE;
Nor98 cases Diagnosed in the US. To Date
Nor98 cases Diagnosed in the US.
Flock of Origin State FY
Wyoming 2007
Indiana 2007
Pennsylvania 2008
Oregon 2010
Ohio 2010
Pennsylvania 2010
Untraceable 2010
California 2011
Montana 2016
Utah 2017
Montana 2017
Virginia 2018
Colorado 2019
Colorado 2019
Wyoming 2020
Montana 2020
Pennsylvania 2021
Personal Communication from USDA et al Mon, Jan 4, 2021 11:37 am...terry
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
APHIS USDA MORE SCRAPIE ATYPICAL Nor-98 Confirmed USA September 15 2020
17 cases of the Nor98 in the USA to date, location, unknown...tss
17 Nor98-like cases since the beginning of RSSS.
17 Nor98-like cases since the beginning of RSSS. No animals have tested positive for classical scrapie in FY 2021.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2021
Scrapie TSE Prion United States of America a Review February 2021 Singeltary et al
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021
Atypical Nor-98 Scrapie TSE Prion USA State by State Update January 2021
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
APHIS USDA MORE SCRAPIE ATYPICAL Nor-98 Confirmed USA September 15 2020
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
APHIS USDA Nor98-like scrapie was confirmed in a sheep sampled at slaughter in May 2020
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021
Pennsylvania Scrapie Update Outbreak August 2018 and 3 Nor-98 atypical Cases Detected
MONDAY, JULY 13, 2020
Efficient transmission of classical scrapie agent x124 by intralingual route to genetically susceptible sheep with a low dose inoculum
*** Singeltary reply ; Molecular, Biochemical and Genetic Characteristics of BSE in Canada Singeltary reply ;
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019
***> Incomplete inactivation of atypical scrapie following recommended autoclave decontamination procedures
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020
Autoclave treatment of the classical scrapie agent US No. 13-7 and experimental inoculation to susceptible VRQ/ARQ sheep via the oral route results in decreased transmission efficiency
2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strains
2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strains
Olivier Andreoletti, INRA Research Director, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) – École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), invited speaker, presented the results of two recently published scientific articles of interest, of which he is co-author: ‘Radical Change in Zoonotic Abilities of Atypical BSE Prion Strains as Evidenced by Crossing of Sheep Species Barrier in Transgenic Mice’ (MarinMoreno et al., 2020) and ‘The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/Nor98 scrapie’ (Huor et al., 2019).
In the first experimental study, H-type and L-type BSE were inoculated into transgenic mice expressing all three genotypes of the human PRNP at codon 129 and into adapted into ARQ and VRQ transgenic sheep mice. The results showed the alterations of the capacities to cross the human barrier species (mouse model) and emergence of sporadic CJD agents in Hu PrP expressing mice: type 2 sCJD in homozygous TgVal129 VRQ-passaged L-BSE, and type 1 sCJD in homozygous TgVal 129 and TgMet129 VRQ-passaged H-BSE.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/ Nor98 scrapie
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2020
Efficient transmission of US scrapie agent by intralingual route to genetically susceptible sheep with a low dose inoculum
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2020
Bovine adapted transmissible mink encephalopathy is similar to L-BSE after passage through sheep with the VRQ/VRQ genotype but not VRQ/ARQ
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
The agent of transmissible mink encephalopathy passaged in sheep is similar to BSE-L
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020
APHIS USDA Nor98-like scrapie was confirmed in a sheep sampled at slaughter in May 2020
A REVIEW of facts and science on scrapie zoonosis potential/likelihood and the USA incredible failure of the BSE 589.2001 FEED REGULATIONS (another colossal failure, and proven to be a sham)
***> 1st up BSE 589.2001 FEED REGULATIONS
***> CWD AND SCRAPIE TRANSMITS BY ORAL ROUTES TO PIGS, PRICE OF TSE PRION POKER GOES UP!
2021 Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion End of Year Report 2020
CJD FOUNDATION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE CJD Foundation Research Grant Recipient Reports Panel 2 Nov 3, 2020
zoonotic potential of PMCA-adapted CWD PrP 96SS inoculum
4 different CWD strains, and these 4 strains have different potential to induce any folding of the human prion protein.
***> PIGS, WILD BOAR, CWD <***
***> POPULATIONS OF WILD BOARS IN THE UNITED STATES INCREASING SUPSTANTUALLY AND IN MANY AREAS WE CAN SEE A HIGH DENSITY OF WILD BOARS AND HIGH INCIDENT OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE
HYPOTHOSIS AND SPECIFIC AIMS
HYPOTHOSIS
BSE, SCRAPIE, AND CWD, EXPOSED DOMESTIC PIGS ACCUMULATE DIFFERENT QUANTITIES AND STRAINS OF PRIONS IN PERIPHERAL TISSUES, EACH ONE OF THEM WITH PARTICULAR ZOONOTIC POTENTIALS
Final Report – CJD Foundation Grant Program A.
Project Title: Systematic evaluation of the zoonotic potential of different CWD isolates. Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Morales, PhD.
Systematic evaluation of the zoonotic potential of different CWD isolates. Rodrigo Morales, PhD Assistant Professor Protein Misfolding Disorders lab Mitchell Center for Alzheimer’s disease and Related Brain Disorders Department of Neurology University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Washington DC. July 14th, 2018
Conclusions and Future Directions • We have developed a highly sensitive and specific CWD-PMCA platform to be used as a diagnostic tool. • Current PMCA set up allow us to mimic relevant prion inter-species transmission events. • Polymorphic changes at position 96 of the prion protein apparently alter strain properties and, consequently, the zoonotic potential of CWD isolates. • Inter-species and inter-polymorphic PrPC → PrPSc conversions further increase the spectrum of CWD isolates possibly present in nature. • CWD prions generated in 96SS PrPC substrate apparently have greater inter-species transmission potentials. • Future experiments will explore the zoonotic potential of CWD prions along different adaptation scenarios, including inter-species and inter-polymorphic.
Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: Disease-associated prion protein detected in lymphoid tissues from pigs challenged with the agent of chronic wasting disease
Author item MOORE, SARAH - Orise Fellow item Kunkle, Robert item KONDRU, NAVEEN - Iowa State University item MANNE, SIREESHA - Iowa State University item SMITH, JODI - Iowa State University item KANTHASAMY, ANUMANTHA - Iowa State University item WEST GREENLEE, M - Iowa State University item Greenlee, Justin Submitted to: Prion Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2017 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: Aims: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a naturally-occurring, fatal neurodegenerative disease of cervids. We previously demonstrated that disease-associated prion protein (PrPSc) can be detected in the brain and retina from pigs challenged intracranially or orally with the CWD agent. In that study, neurological signs consistent with prion disease were observed only in one pig: an intracranially challenged pig that was euthanized at 64 months post-challenge. The purpose of this study was to use an antigen-capture immunoassay (EIA) and real-time quaking-induced conversion (QuIC) to determine whether PrPSc is present in lymphoid tissues from pigs challenged with the CWD agent.
Methods: At two months of age, crossbred pigs were challenged by the intracranial route (n=20), oral route (n=19), or were left unchallenged (n=9). At approximately 6 months of age, the time at which commercial pigs reach market weight, half of the pigs in each group were culled (<6 month challenge groups). The remaining pigs (>6 month challenge groups) were allowed to incubate for up to 73 months post challenge (mpc). The retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN) was screened for the presence of PrPSc by EIA and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The RPLN, palatine tonsil, and mesenteric lymph node (MLN) from 6-7 pigs per challenge group were also tested using EIA and QuIC.
Results: PrPSc was not detected by EIA and IHC in any RPLNs. All tonsils and MLNs were negative by IHC, though the MLN from one pig in the oral <6 month group was positive by EIA. PrPSc was detected by QuIC in at least one of the lymphoid tissues examined in 5/6 pigs in the intracranial <6 months group, 6/7 intracranial >6 months group, 5/6 pigs in the oral <6 months group, and 4/6 oral >6 months group. Overall, the MLN was positive in 14/19 (74%) of samples examined, the RPLN in 8/18 (44%), and the tonsil in 10/25 (40%).
Conclusions: This study demonstrates that PrPSc accumulates in lymphoid tissues from pigs challenged intracranially or orally with the CWD agent, and can be detected as early as 4 months after challenge. CWD-infected pigs rarely develop clinical disease and if they do, they do so after a long incubation period. This raises the possibility that CWD-infected pigs could shed prions into their environment long before they develop clinical disease. Furthermore, lymphoid tissues from CWD-infected pigs could present a potential source of CWD infectivity in the animal and human food chains.
Research Project: Pathobiology, Genetics, and Detection of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: The agent of chronic wasting disease from pigs is infectious in transgenic mice expressing human PRNP
Author item MOORE, S - Orise Fellow item Kokemuller, Robyn item WEST-GREENLEE, M - Iowa State University item BALKEMA-BUSCHMANN, ANNE - Friedrich-Loeffler-institut item GROSCHUP, MARTIN - Friedrich-Loeffler-institut item Greenlee, Justin Submitted to: Prion Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 5/10/2018 Publication Date: 5/22/2018 Citation: Moore, S.J., Kokemuller, R.D., West-Greenlee, M.H., Balkema-Buschmann, A., Groschup, M.H., Greenlee, J.J. 2018. The agent of chronic wasting disease from pigs is infectious in transgenic mice expressing human PRNP. Prion 2018, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, May 22-25, 2018. Paper No. WA15, page 44.
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: We have previously shown that the chronic wasting disease (CWD) agent from white-tailed deer can be transmitted to domestic pigs via intracranial or oral inoculation although with low attack rates and restricted PrPSc accumulation. The objective of this study was to assess the potential for cross-species transmission of pig-passaged CWD using bioassay in transgenic mice. Transgenic mice expressing human (Tg40), bovine (TgBovXV) or porcine (Tg002) PRNP were inoculated intracranially with 1% brain homogenate from a pig that had been intracranially inoculated with a pool of CWD from white-tailed deer. This pig developed neurological clinical signs, was euthanized at 64 months post-inoculation, and PrPSc was detected in the brain. Mice were monitored daily for clinical signs of disease until the end of the study. Mice were considered positive if PrPSc was detected in the brain using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). In transgenic mice expressing porcine prion protein the average incubation period was 167 days post-inoculation (dpi) and 3/27 mice were EIA positive (attack rate = 11%). All 3 mice were found dead and clinical signs were not noted prior to death. One transgenic mouse expressing bovine prion protein was euthanized due to excessive scratching at 617 dpi and 2 mice culled at the end of the study at 700 dpi were EIA positive resulting in an overall attack rate of 3/16 (19%). None of the transgenic mice expressing human prion protein that died or were euthanized up to 769 dpi were EIA positive and at study end point at 800 dpi 2 mice had positive EIA results (overall attack rate = 2/20 = 10%). The EIA optical density (OD) readings for all positive mice were at the lower end of the reference range (positive mice range, OD = 0.266-0.438; test positive reference range, OD = 0.250-4.000). To the authors’ knowledge, cervid-derived CWD isolates have not been successfully transmitted to transgenic mice expressing human prion protein. The successful transmission of pig-passaged CWD to Tg40 mice reported here suggests that passage of the CWD agent through pigs results in a change of the transmission characteristics which reduces the transmission barrier of Tg40 mice to the CWD agent. If this biological behavior is recapitulated in the original host species, passage of the CWD agent through pigs could potentially lead to increased pathogenicity of the CWD agent in humans.
cwd scrapie pigs oral routes
***> However, at 51 months of incubation or greater, 5 animals were positive by one or more diagnostic methods. Furthermore, positive bioassay results were obtained from all inoculated groups (oral and intracranial; market weight and end of study) suggesting that swine are potential hosts for the agent of scrapie. <***
>*** Although the current U.S. feed ban is based on keeping tissues from TSE infected cattle from contaminating animal feed, swine rations in the U.S. could contain animal derived components including materials from scrapie infected sheep and goats. These results indicating the susceptibility of pigs to sheep scrapie, coupled with the limitations of the current feed ban, indicates that a revision of the feed ban may be necessary to protect swine production and potentially human health. <***
***> Results: PrPSc was not detected by EIA and IHC in any RPLNs. All tonsils and MLNs were negative by IHC, though the MLN from one pig in the oral <6 month group was positive by EIA. PrPSc was detected by QuIC in at least one of the lymphoid tissues examined in 5/6 pigs in the intracranial <6 months group, 6/7 intracranial >6 months group, 5/6 pigs in the oral <6 months group, and 4/6 oral >6 months group. Overall, the MLN was positive in 14/19 (74%) of samples examined, the RPLN in 8/18 (44%), and the tonsil in 10/25 (40%).
***> Conclusions: This study demonstrates that PrPSc accumulates in lymphoid tissues from pigs challenged intracranially or orally with the CWD agent, and can be detected as early as 4 months after challenge. CWD-infected pigs rarely develop clinical disease and if they do, they do so after a long incubation period. This raises the possibility that CWD-infected pigs could shed prions into their environment long before they develop clinical disease. Furthermore, lymphoid tissues from CWD-infected pigs could present a potential source of CWD infectivity in the animal and human food chains.
Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: Scrapie transmits to white-tailed deer by the oral route and has a molecular profile similar to chronic wasting disease
Author
item Greenlee, Justin item Moore, S - Orise Fellow item Smith, Jodi - Iowa State University item Kunkle, Robert item West Greenlee, M - Iowa State University Submitted to: American College of Veterinary Pathologists Meeting Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 8/12/2015 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: The purpose of this work was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to the agent of sheep scrapie and to compare the resultant PrPSc to that of the original inoculum and chronic wasting disease (CWD). We inoculated WTD by a natural route of exposure (concurrent oral and intranasal (IN); n=5) with a US scrapie isolate. All scrapie-inoculated deer had evidence of PrPSc accumulation. PrPSc was detected in lymphoid tissues at preclinical time points, and deer necropsied after 28 months post-inoculation had clinical signs, spongiform encephalopathy, and widespread distribution of PrPSc in neural and lymphoid tissues. Western blotting (WB) revealed PrPSc with 2 distinct molecular profiles. WB on cerebral cortex had a profile similar to the original scrapie inoculum, whereas WB of brainstem, cerebellum, or lymph nodes revealed PrPSc with a higher profile resembling CWD. Homogenates with the 2 distinct profiles from WTD with clinical scrapie were further passaged to mice expressing cervid prion protein and intranasally to sheep and WTD. In cervidized mice, the two inocula have distinct incubation times. Sheep inoculated intranasally with WTD derived scrapie developed disease, but only after inoculation with the inoculum that had a scrapie-like profile. The WTD study is ongoing, but deer in both inoculation groups are positive for PrPSc by rectal mucosal biopsy. In summary, this work demonstrates that WTD are susceptible to the agent of scrapie, two distinct molecular profiles of PrPSc are present in the tissues of affected deer, and inoculum of either profile readily passes to deer.
223. Scrapie in white-tailed deer: a strain of the CWD agent that efficiently transmits to sheep?
Justin J. Greenleea, Robyn D. Kokemullera, S. Jo Moorea and Heather West Greenleeb
aVirus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Ames, IA, USA; bDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ames, IA, USA
CONTACT Justin J. Greenlee Justin.Greenlee@ars.usda.gov
ABSTRACT
Scrapie is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of sheep and goats that is associated with widespread accumulation of abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) in the central nervous and lymphoid tissues. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is the natural prion disease of cervid species, and the tissue distribution of PrPSc in affected cervids is similar to scrapie in sheep. There are several lines of evidence that suggest that multiple strains of CWD exist, which may affect the agent’s potential to transmit to hosts of the same or different species. We inoculated white-tailed deer with the scrapie agent from ARQ/ARQ sheep, which resulted in 100% attack rates by either the intracranial or oronasal route of inoculation. When examining tissues from the brainstems or lymphoid tissues by traditional diagnostic methods such as immunohistochemistry or western blots, it is difficult to differentiate tissues from deer infected with scrapie from those infected with CWD. However, there are several important differences between tissues from scrapie-infected white-tailed deer (WTD scrapie) and those infected with CWD (WTD CWD). First, there are different patterns of PrPSc deposition in the brains of infected deer: brain tissues from deer with WTD scrapie had predominantly particulate and stellate immunoreactivity whereas those from deer with WTD-CWD had large aggregates and plaque-like deposits. Secondly, the incubation periods of WTD scrapie isolates are longer than CWD isolates in mice expressing cervid prion protein. Most notably, the transmission potential of these two isolates back to sheep is distinctly different. Attempts to transmit various CWD isolates to sheep by the oral or oronasal routes have been unsuccessful despite observation periods of up to 7 years. However, WTD scrapie efficiently transmitted back to sheep by the oronasal route. Upon transmission back to sheep, the WTD scrapie isolate exhibited different phenotypic properties when compared to the sheep receiving the original sheep scrapie inoculum including different genotype susceptibilities, distinct PrPSc deposition patterns, and much more rapid incubation periods in transgenic mice expressing the ovine prion protein. The scrapie agent readily transmits between sheep and deer after oronasal exposure. This could confound the identification of CWD strains in deer and the eradication of scrapie from sheep.
Sunday, January 10, 2021
APHIS Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087] Singeltary Submission
June 17, 2019 APHIS
Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087] Singeltary Submission June 17, 2019
APHIS Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087] Singeltary Submission
Greetings APHIS et al,
I would kindly like to comment on APHIS Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087], and my comments are as follows, with the latest peer review and transmission studies as references of evidence.
THE OIE/USDA BSE Minimal Risk Region MRR is nothing more than free pass to import and export the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy TSE Prion disease. December 2003, when the USDA et al lost it's supposedly 'GOLD CARD' ie BSE FREE STATUS (that was based on nothing more than not looking and not finding BSE), once the USA lost it's gold card BSE Free status, the USDA OIE et al worked hard and fast to change the BSE Geographical Risk Statuses i.e. the BSE GBR's, and replaced it with the BSE MRR policy, the legal tool to trade mad cow type disease TSE Prion Globally. The USA is doing just what the UK did, when they shipped mad cow disease around the world, except with the BSE MRR policy, it's now legal.
Also, the whole concept of the BSE MRR policy is based on a false pretense, that atypical BSE is not transmissible, and that only typical c-BSE is transmissible via feed. This notion that atypical BSE TSE Prion is an old age cow disease that is not infectious is absolutely false, there is NO science to show this, and on the contrary, we now know that atypical BSE will transmit by ORAL ROUTES, but even much more concerning now, recent science has shown that Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion in deer and elk which is rampant with no stopping is sight in the USA, and Scrapie TSE Prion in sheep and goat, will transmit to PIGS by oral routes, this is our worst nightmare, showing even more risk factors for the USA FDA PART 589 TSE PRION FEED ban.
The FDA PART 589 TSE PRION FEED ban has failed terribly bad, and is still failing, since August 1997. there is tonnage and tonnage of banned potential mad cow feed that went into commerce, and still is, with one decade, 10 YEARS, post August 1997 FDA PART 589 TSE PRION FEED ban, 2007, with 10,000,000 POUNDS, with REASON, Products manufactured from bulk feed containing blood meal that was cross contaminated with prohibited meat and bone meal and the labeling did not bear cautionary BSE statement. you can see all these feed ban warning letters and tonnage of mad cow feed in commerce, year after year, that is not accessible on the internet anymore like it use to be, you can see history of the FDA failure August 1997 FDA PART 589 TSE PRION FEED ban here, but remember this, we have a new outbreak of TSE Prion disease in a new livestock species, the camel, and this too is very worrisome.
WITH the OIE and the USDA et al weakening the global TSE prion surveillance, by not classifying the atypical Scrapie as TSE Prion disease, and the notion that they want to do the same thing with typical scrapie and atypical BSE, it's just not scientific.
WE MUST abolish the BSE MRR policy, go back to the BSE GBR risk assessments by country, and enhance them to include all strains of TSE Prion disease in all species. With Chronic Wasting CWD TSE Prion disease spreading in Europe, now including, Norway, Finland, Sweden, also in Korea, Canada and the USA, and the TSE Prion in Camels, the fact the the USA is feeding potentially CWD, Scrapie, BSE, typical and atypical, to other animals, and shipping both this feed and or live animals or even grains around the globe, potentially exposed or infected with the TSE Prion. this APHIS Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087], under it's present definition, does NOT show the true risk of the TSE Prion in any country. as i said, it's nothing more than a legal tool to trade the TSE Prion around the globe, nothing but ink on paper.
AS long as the BSE MRR policy stays in effect, TSE Prion disease will continued to be bought and sold as food for both humans and animals around the globe, and the future ramifications from friendly fire there from, i.e. iatrogenic exposure and transmission there from from all of the above, should not be underestimated. ...
From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder@wt.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 1:03 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Cc: ggraber@cvm.fda.gov; Linda.Grassie@fda.gov; BSE-L
Subject: Docket No. 2003N-0312 Animal Feed Safety System [TSS SUBMISSION TO DOCKET 2003N-0312]
Greetings FDA,
snip...
PLUS, if the USA continues to flagrantly ignore the _documented_ science to date about the known TSEs in the USA (let alone the undocumented TSEs in cattle), it is my opinion, every other Country that is dealing with BSE/TSE should boycott the USA and demand that the SSC reclassify the USA BSE GBR II risk assessment to BSE/TSE GBR III 'IMMEDIATELY'. for the SSC to _flounder_ any longer on this issue, should also be regarded with great suspicion as well. NOT to leave out the OIE and it's terribly flawed system of disease surveillance. the OIE should make a move on CWD in the USA, and make a risk assessment on this as a threat to human health. the OIE should also change the mathematical formula for testing of disease. this (in my opinion and others) is terribly flawed as well. to think that a sample survey of 400 or so cattle in a population of 100 million, to think this will find anything, especially after seeing how many TSE tests it took Italy and other Countries to find 1 case of BSE (1 million rapid TSE test in less than 2 years, to find 102 BSE cases), should be proof enough to make drastic changes of this system. the OIE criteria for BSE Country classification and it's interpretation is very problematic. a text that is suppose to give guidelines, but is not understandable, cannot be considered satisfactory. the OIE told me 2 years ago that they were concerned with CWD, but said any changes might take years. well, two years have come and gone, and no change in relations with CWD as a human health risk. if we wait for politics and science to finally make this connection, we very well may die before any decisions or changes are made. this is not acceptable. we must take the politics and the industry out of any final decisions of the Scientific community. this has been the problem from day one with this environmental man made death sentence. some of you may think i am exaggerating, but you only have to see it once, you only have to watch a loved one die from this one time, and you will never forget, OR forgive...yes, i am still very angry... but the transmission studies DO NOT lie, only the politicians and the industry do... and they are still lying to this day...TSS
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
***> BSE research project final report 2005 to 2008 SE1796 SID5
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
***> REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE OIE SCIENTIFIC COMMISSION FOR ANIMAL DISEASES Paris, 9–13 September 2019 BSE, TSE, PRION
**> see updated concerns with atypical BSE from feed and zoonosis...terry
***> Several experiments have demonstrated the ability of the AS agent to transmit within the natural host after intracranial inoculation [14–16].
***> One study found that the AS agent could transmit after a high oral dose of AS brain homogenate [17].
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
snip.....
In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration's BSE Feed Regulation (21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin) from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the animal feed system. However, this recommendation is guidance and not a requirement by law. Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:
1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD eradication zones and
2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.
Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.
The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES.
It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.
Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk protein is imported into GB.
There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these products.
snip.....
36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011). The clinical signs of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and behavioural changes that can span weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition, signs might include excessive salivation, behavioural alterations including a fixed stare and changes in interaction with other animals in the herd, and an altered stance (Williams, 2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Given this, if CWD was to be introduced into countries with BSE such as GB, for example, infected deer populations would need to be tested to differentiate if they were infected with CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the human food-chain via affected venison. snip..... The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).
snip.....
In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with CWD prion. snip..... In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing, footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible... For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant uncertainty associated with these estimates.
snip.....
Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists and returning GB residents.
snip.....
***> READ THIS VERY, VERY, CAREFULLY, AUGUST 1997 MAD COW FEED BAN WAS A SHAM, AS I HAVE STATED SINCE 1997! 3 FAILSAFES THE FDA ET AL PREACHED AS IF IT WERE THE GOSPEL, IN TERMS OF MAD COW BSE DISEASE IN USA, AND WHY IT IS/WAS/NOT A PROBLEM FOR THE USA, and those are;
BSE TESTING (failed terribly and proven to be a sham)
BSE SURVEILLANCE (failed terribly and proven to be a sham)
BSE 589.2001 FEED REGULATIONS (another colossal failure, and proven to be a sham)
these are facts folks. trump et al just admitted it with the feed ban.
see;
FDA Reports on VFD Compliance
John Maday
August 30, 2019 09:46 AM VFD-Form 007 (640x427)
Before and after the current Veterinary Feed Directive rules took full effect in January, 2017, the FDA focused primarily on education and outreach. ( John Maday ) Before and after the current Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) rules took full effect in January, 2017, the FDA focused primarily on education and outreach to help feed mills, veterinarians and producers understand and comply with the requirements. Since then, FDA has gradually increased the number of VFD inspections and initiated enforcement actions when necessary. On August 29, FDA released its first report on inspection and compliance activities. The report, titled “Summary Assessment of Veterinary Feed Directive Compliance Activities Conducted in Fiscal Years 2016 – 2018,” is available online.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
***> FDA Reports on VFD Compliance
TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017
*** EXTREME USA FDA PART 589 TSE PRION FEED LOOP HOLE STILL EXIST, AND PRICE OF POKER GOES UP ***
IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT
PLOS ONE Journal
IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure
Terry S. Singeltary Sr., 03 Jul 2015 at 16:53 GMT
***however in 1 C-type challenged animal, Prion 2015 Poster Abstracts S67 PrPsc was not detected using rapid tests for BSE.
***Subsequent testing resulted in the detection of pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc detection by PMCA only.
*** IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure ***
***Subsequent testing resulted in the detection of pathologic lesion in unusual brain location and PrPsc detection by PMCA only.
*** IBNC Tauopathy or TSE Prion disease, it appears, no one is sure ***
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020
Idiopathic Brainstem Neuronal Chromatolysis IBNC BSE TSE Prion a Review 2020
***> Our transmission study demonstrates that CH 1641-like scrapie is likely to be more virulent than classical scrapie in cattle.
In the US, scrapie is reported primarily in sheep homozygous for 136A/171Q (AAQQ) and the disease phenotype is similar to that seen with experimental strain CH1641.
***> Our transmission study demonstrates that CH 1641-like scrapie is likely to be more virulent than classical scrapie in cattle.
P-088 Transmission of experimental CH1641-like scrapie to bovine PrP overexpression mice
Kohtaro Miyazawa1, Kentaro Masujin1, Hiroyuki Okada1, Yuichi Matsuura1, Takashi Yokoyama2
1Influenza and Prion Disease Research Center, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO, Japan; 2Department of Planning and General Administration, National Institute of Animal Health, NARO
Introduction: Scrapie is a prion disease in sheep and goats. CH1641-lke scrapie is characterized by a lower molecular mass of the unglycosylated form of abnormal prion protein (PrpSc) compared to that of classical scrapie. It is worthy of attention because of the biochemical similarities of the Prpsc from CH1641-like and BSE affected sheep. We have reported that experimental CH1641-like scrapie is transmissible to bovine PrP overexpression (TgBoPrP) mice (Yokoyama et al. 2010). We report here the further details of this transmission study and compare the biological and biochemical properties to those of classical scrapie affected TgBoPrP mice.
Methods: The details of sheep brain homogenates used in this study are described in our previous report (Yokoyama et al. 2010). TgBoPrP mice were intracerebrally inoculated with a 10% brain homogenate of each scrapie strain. The brains of mice were subjected to histopathological and biochemical analyses.
Results: Prpsc banding pattern of CH1641-like scrapie affected TgBoPrP mice was similar to that of classical scrapie affected mice. Mean survival period of CH1641-like scrapie affected TgBoPrP mice was 170 days at the 3rd passage and it was significantly shorter than that of classical scrapie affected mice (439 days). Lesion profiles and Prpsc distributions in the brains also differed between CH1641-like and classical scrapie affected mice.
Conclusion: We succeeded in stable transmission of CH1641-like scrapie to TgBoPrP mice. Our transmission study demonstrates that CH 1641-like scrapie is likely to be more virulent than classical scrapie in cattle.
snip...
In the US, scrapie is reported primarily in sheep homozygous for 136A/171Q (AAQQ) and the disease phenotype is similar to that seen with experimental strain CH1641.
CH1641
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
The agent of transmissible mink encephalopathy passaged in sheep is similar to BSE-L
49. The agent of transmissible mink encephalopathy passaged in sheep is similar to BSE-L
E. D. Cassmanna,b, S. J. Moorea,b, R. D. Kokemullera, A. Balkema-Buschmannc, M. H. Groschupcand J. J. Greenleea
aVirus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, ARS, United States Department of Agriculture, Ames, IA, USA (EDC, SJM, RDK, JJG); bOak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ORISE is managed by ORAU under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664. (EDC, SJM), Department of Veterinary Pathology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA (JDS); cInstitute of Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald – Isle of Riems, Germany (ABB, MHG)
CONTACT E. D. Cassmann eric.cassmann@usda.gov
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) is a fatal neurologic prion disease of farmed mink. Epidemiologic and experimental evidence following a Wisconsin outbreak in 1985 has linked TME to low-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE-L). Evidence suggests that farmed mink were likely exposed through feeding of BSE-L infected downer cattle. The interspecies transmission of TME to cattle has been documented. Recently, we demonstrated the susceptibility of sheep to cattle passaged TME by intracranial inoculation. The aim of the present study was to compare ovine passaged cattle TME to other prion diseases of food-producing animals. Using a bovine transgenic mouse model, we compared the disease phenotype of sheep TME to BSE-C and BSE-L.
Materials and Methods: Separate inoculants of sheep passaged TME were derived from animals with the VRQ/VRQ (VV136) and ARQ/VRQ (AV136) prion protein genotype. Transgenic bovinized mice (TgBovXV) were intracranially inoculated with 20 µl of 1% w/v brain homogenate. The disease phenotypes were characterized by comparing the attack rates, incubation periods, and vacuolation profiles in TgBovXV mice.
Results: The attack rate for BSE-C (13/13), BSE-L (18/18), and TMEVV (21/21) was 100%; whereas, the TMEAV group (15/19) had an incomplete attack rate. The average incubation periods were 299, 280, 310, and 541 days, respectively. The vacuolation profiles of BSE-L and TMEVV were most similar with mild differences observed in the thalamus and medulla. Vacuolation profiles from the BSE-C and TMEAV experimental groups were different than TMEVVand BSE-L.
Conclusion: Overall the phenotype of disease in TME inoculated transgenic mice was dependent on the sheep donor genotype (VV vs AV). The results of the present study indicate that TME isolated from VRQ/VRQ sheep is similar to BSE-L with regards to incubation period, attack rate, and vacuolation profile. Our findings are in agreement with previous research that found phenotypic similarities between BSE-L and cattle passaged TME in an ovine transgenic rodent model. In this study, the similarities between ovine TME and BSE-L are maintained after multiple interspecies passages.
Prion2019 Conference
2007
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
The agent of transmissible mink encephalopathy passaged in sheep is similar to BSE-L
(b) the epidemiological and laboratory studies in the USA suggest the possibility of an occurrence of BSE infection in cattle as the origin of outbreaks of TME.
{c) there is also evidence from two experiments conducted in the USA that cattle, though susceptible to scrapie inocula prepared from sheep, express a pathology quite different from that of BSE and not convincingly diagnostic of an SE by histopathological criteria. Furthermore, neither of these studies can be regarded as a basis for extrapolation to the situation in the UK because the inocula used were either experimentally passaged or natural scrapie originating from Suffolk sheep; a minority breed in this country.
August 1988
Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results From Feeding Infected Cattle
Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results from Feeding Infected Cattle
Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.
snip...
The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...
NOW, in 1979, it was proven that indeed U.S. scrapie strain that was transmitted to U.S. cattle, did NOT produce a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) like the U.K. B.S.E., but a TSE unlike the U.K. B.S.E. SO what does all this tell us? it tells me that there is a possibility that a strain of mad cow disease was circulating in the U.S.A. long, long, before originally thought, only left to be ignored, while incubating and spreading.
3.57 The experiment which might have determined whether BSE and scrapie were caused by the same agent (ie, the feeding of natural scrapie to cattle) was never undertaken in the UK. It was, however, performed in the USA in 1979, when it was shown that cattle inoculated with the scrapie agent endemic in the flock of Suffolk sheep at the United States Department of Agriculture in Mission, Texas, developed a TSE quite unlike BSE.339 The findings of the initial transmission, though not of the clinical or neurohistological examination, were communicated in October 1988 to Dr Watson, Director of the CVL, following a visit by Dr Wrathall, one of the project leaders in the Pathology Department of the CVL, to the United States Department of Agriculture.340 The results were not published at this point, since the attempted transmission to mice from the experimental cow brain had been inconclusive. The results of the clinical and histological differences between scrapie-affected sheep and cattle were published in 1995. Similar studies in which cattle were inoculated intracerebrally with scrapie inocula derived from a number of scrapie-affected sheep of different breeds and from different States, were carried out at the US National Animal Disease Centre.341 The results, published in 1994, showed that this source of scrapie agent, though pathogenic for cattle, did not produce the same clinical signs of brain lesions characteristic of BSE.
3.58 There are several possible reasons why the experiment was not performed in the UK. It had been recommended by Sir Richard Southwood (Chairman of the Working Party on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in his letter to the Permanent Secretary of MAFF, Mr (now Sir) Derek Andrews, on 21 June 1988,342 though it was not specifically recommended in the Working Party Report or indeed in the Tyrrell Committee Report (details of the Southwood Working Party and the Tyrell Committee can be found in vol. 4: The Southwood Working Party, 1988–89 and vol. 11: Scientists after Southwood respectively). The direct inoculation of scrapie into calves was given low priority, because of its high cost and because it was known that it had already taken place in the USA.343 It was also felt that the results of such an experiment would be hard to interpret. While a negative result would be informative, a positive result would need to demonstrate that when scrapie was transmitted to cattle, the disease which developed in cattle was the same as BSE.344 Given the large number of strains of scrapie and the possibility that BSE was one of them, it would be necessary to transmit every scrapie strain to cattle separately, to test the hypothesis properly. Such an experiment would be expensive. Secondly, as measures to control the epidemic took hold, the need for the experiment from the policy viewpoint was not considered so urgent. It was felt that the results would be mainly of academic interest.345
3.59 Nevertheless, from the first demonstration of transmissibility of BSE in 1988, the possibility of differences in the transmission properties of BSE and scrapie was clear. Scrapie was transmissible to hamsters, but by 1988 attempts to transmit BSE to hamsters had failed. Subsequent findings increased that possibility.
337 Fraser, H., Bruce, M., Chree, A., McConnell, I. and Wells, G. (1992) Transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Scrapie to Mice, Journal of General Virology, 73, 1891–7; Bruce, M., Chree, A., McConnell, I., Foster, J., Pearson, G. and Fraser, H. (1994) Transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Scrapie to Mice: Strain Variation and the Species Barrier, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 343, 405–11 338 Bruce, M., Will, R., Ironside, J., McConell, I., Drummond, D., Suttie, A., McCordie, L., Chree, A., Hope, J., Birkett, C., Cousens, S., Fraser, H. and Bostock, C. (1997) Transmissions to Mice Indicate that ‘New Variant’ CJD is Caused by the BSE Agent, Nature, 389, 498–501 339 Clark, W., Hourrigan, J. and Hadlow, W. (1995) Encephalopathy in Cattle Experimentally Infected with the Scrapie Agent, American Journal of Veterinary Research, 56, 606–12 340 YB88/10.00/1.1 341 Cutlip, R., Miller, J., Race, R., Jenny, A., Katz, J., Lehmkuhl, H., Debey, B. and Robinson, M. (1994) Intracerebral Transmission of Scrapie to Cattle, Journal of Infectious Diseases, 169, 814–20 342 YB88/6.21/1.2 343 YB88/11.17/2.4
31
Appendix I VISIT TO USA - OR A E WRATHALL — INFO ON BSE AND SCRAPIE
Dr Clark lately of the scrapie Research Unit, Mission Texas has
successfully transmitted ovine and caprine scrapie to cattle. The
experimental results have not been published but there are plans to do
this. This work was initiated in 1978. A summary of it is:-
Expt A 6 Her x Jer calves born in 1978 were inoculated as follows with
a 2nd Suffolk scrapie passage:-
i/c 1ml; i/m, 5ml; s/c 5ml; oral 30ml.
1/6 went down after 48 months with a scrapie/BSE-like disease.
Expt B 6 Her or Jer or HxJ calves were inoculated with angora Goat
virus 2/6 went down similarly after 36 months.
Expt C Mice inoculated from brains of calves/cattle in expts A & B were resistant, only 1/20 going down with scrapie and this was the reason given for not publishing.
Diagnosis in A, B, C was by histopath. No reports on SAF were given.
Dr Warren Foote indicated success so far in eliminating scrapie in offspring from experimentally— (and naturally) infected sheep by ET. He had found difficulty in obtaining embryos from naturally infected sheep (cf SPA).
Prof. A Robertson gave a brief accout of BSE. The us approach was to
32
accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr A Thiermann showed the picture in the "Independent" with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs.
BSE was not reported in USA.
4. Scrapie incidents (ie affected flocks) have shown a dramatic increase since 1978. In 1953 when the National Control scheme was started there were 10-14 incidents, in 1978 - 1 and in 1988 so far 60.
5. Scrapie agent was reported to have been isolated from a solitary fetus.
6. A western blotting diagnostic technique (? on PrP) shows some promise.
7. Results of a questionnaire sent to 33 states on the subject of the national sheep scrapie programme survey indicated
17/33 wished to drop it
6/33 wished to develop it
8/33 had few sheep and were neutral
Information obtained from Dr Wrathall‘s notes of a meeting of the u.s.
Animal Health Association at Little Rock, Arkansas Nov. 1988.
33
In Confidence - Perceptions of unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the USA - APRIL-MAY 1989 - G A H Wells
3. Prof. A. Robertson gave a brief account of BSE. The US approach was to accord it a very low profile indeed. Dr. A Thiermann showed the picture in the ''Independent'' with cattle being incinerated and thought this was a fanatical incident to be avoided in the US at all costs. ...
VISIT TO USA - DR AE WRATHALL - INFO ON BSE AND SCRAPIE
1. Dr. Clark lately of the Scrapie Research Unit, Mission Texas has successfully transmitted ovine & caprine Scrapie to cattle. The experimental results have not been published but there are plans to do this. This work was initiated in 1978. A summary of it is;
snip...see handwritten notes from this here;
IN CONFIDENCE
Perceptions of an unconventional slow virus diseases of animals in the U.S.A. G A H Wells
Report of a Visit to the USA April-May 1989
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas, The Moore Air Force Base Scrapie Experiment 1964
How Did CWD Get Way Down In Medina County, Texas?
Confucius ponders...
Could the Scrapie experiments back around 1964 at Moore Air Force near Mission, Texas, could this area have been ground zero for CWD TSE Prion (besides the CWD cases that have waltzed across the Texas, New Mexico border near WSMR Trans Pecos region since around 2001)?
Epidemiology of Scrapie in the United States 1977
snip...
Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas A Scrapie Field Trial was developed at Mission, Texas, to provide additional information for the eradication program on the epidemiology of natural scrapie. The Mission Field Trial Station is located on 450 acres of pastureland, part of the former Moore Air Force Base, near Mission, Texas.
It was designed to bring previously exposed, and later also unexposed, sheep or goats to the Station and maintain and breed them under close observation for extended periods to determine which animals would develop scrapie and define more closely the natural spread and other epidemiological aspects of the disease.
The 547 previously exposed sheep brought to the Mission Station beginning in 1964 were of the Cheviot, Hampshire, Montadale, or Suffolk breeds.
They were purchased as field outbreaks occurred, and represented 21 bloodlines in which scrapie had been diagnosed.
Upon arrival at the Station, the sheep were maintained on pasture, with supplemental feeding as necessary.
The station was divided into 2 areas:
(1) a series of pastures and-pens occupied by male animals only, and
(2) a series of pastures and pens occupied by females and young progeny of both sexes.
... snip...
see full text ;
Thursday, June 09, 2016
Scrapie Field Trial Experiments Mission, Texas, The Moore Air Force Base Scrapie TSE Prion Experiment 1964 How Did CWD Get Way Down In Medina County, Texas?
doi:10.1016/S0021-9975(97)80022-9 Copyright © 1997 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Second passage of a US scrapie agent in cattle
R.C. Cutlip, J.M. Miller and H.D. Lehmkuhl
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, Iowa, USA
Received 10 September 1996; accepted 31 July 1997. Available online 25 May 2006.
Summary
Scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy are similar chronic neurodegenerative diseases of sheep and cattle. An earlier study showed that, on first passage in cattle, a US scrapie agent caused an encephalopathy that was distinct from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The present report describes a second passage in cattle, carried out because diseases caused by the spongiform encephalopathy agents often change in character with additional passages in abnormal hosts. For this work, young calves were inoculated intracerebrally with a pooled suspension of brain from cattle that had died of encephalopathy after experimental inoculation with brain from scrapie-affected sheep. The second passage disease was essentially identical with the first passage disease, as judged by clinical signs, histopathological findings and distribution of "prion protein scrapie" (PrPsc). This represents additional evidence to suggest that the US sheep scrapie agent tested is incapable of causing BSE in cattle.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2020
Cattle Meat and Offal Imported from the United States of America, Canada and Ireland to Japan (Prions) Food Safety Commission of Japan
SEE HADLOW AND SCRAPIE !
P03.141
Aspects of the Cerebellar Neuropathology in Nor98
Gavier-Widén, D1; Benestad, SL2; Ottander, L1; Westergren, E1 1National Veterinary Insitute, Sweden; 2National Veterinary Institute,
Norway Nor98 is a prion disease of old sheep and goats. This atypical form of scrapie was first described in Norway in 1998. Several features of Nor98 were shown to be different from classical scrapie including the distribution of disease associated prion protein (PrPd) accumulation in the brain. The cerebellum is generally the most affected brain area in Nor98. The study here presented aimed at adding information on the neuropathology in the cerebellum of Nor98 naturally affected sheep of various genotypes in Sweden and Norway. A panel of histochemical and immunohistochemical (IHC) stainings such as IHC for PrPd, synaptophysin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid, and cell markers for phagocytic cells were conducted. The type of histological lesions and tissue reactions were evaluated. The types of PrPd deposition were characterized. The cerebellar cortex was regularly affected, even though there was a variation in the severity of the lesions from case to case. Neuropil vacuolation was more marked in the molecular layer, but affected also the granular cell layer. There was a loss of granule cells. Punctate deposition of PrPd was characteristic. It was morphologically and in distribution identical with that of synaptophysin, suggesting that PrPd accumulates in the synaptic structures. PrPd was also observed in the granule cell layer and in the white matter. The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
***The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
PR-26
NOR98 SHOWS MOLECULAR FEATURES REMINISCENT OF GSS
R. Nonno1, E. Esposito1, G. Vaccari1, E. Bandino2, M. Conte1, B. Chiappini1, S. Marcon1, M. Di Bari1, S.L. Benestad3, U. Agrimi1 1 Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health, Rome, Italy (romolo.nonno@iss.it); 2 Istituto Zooprofilattico della Sardegna, Sassari, Italy; 3 National Veterinary Institute, Department of Pathology, Oslo, Norway
Molecular variants of PrPSc are being increasingly investigated in sheep scrapie and are generally referred to as "atypical" scrapie, as opposed to "classical scrapie". Among the atypical group, Nor98 seems to be the best identified. We studied the molecular properties of Italian and Norwegian Nor98 samples by WB analysis of brain homogenates, either untreated, digested with different concentrations of proteinase K, or subjected to enzymatic deglycosylation. The identity of PrP fragments was inferred by means of antibodies spanning the full PrP sequence. We found that undigested brain homogenates contain a Nor98-specific PrP fragment migrating at 11 kDa (PrP11), truncated at both the C-terminus and the N-terminus, and not N-glycosylated. After mild PK digestion, Nor98 displayed full-length PrP (FL-PrP) and N-glycosylated C-terminal fragments (CTF), along with increased levels of PrP11. Proteinase K digestion curves (0,006-6,4 mg/ml) showed that FL-PrP and CTF are mainly digested above 0,01 mg/ml, while PrP11 is not entirely digested even at the highest concentrations, similarly to PrP27-30 associated with classical scrapie. Above 0,2 mg/ml PK, most Nor98 samples showed only PrP11 and a fragment of 17 kDa with the same properties of PrP11, that was tentatively identified as a dimer of PrP11. Detergent solubility studies showed that PrP11 is insoluble in 2% sodium laurylsorcosine and is mainly produced from detergentsoluble, full-length PrPSc. Furthermore, among Italian scrapie isolates, we found that a sample with molecular and pathological properties consistent with Nor98 showed plaque-like deposits of PrPSc in the thalamus when the brain was analysed by PrPSc immunohistochemistry. Taken together, our results show that the distinctive pathological feature of Nor98 is a PrP fragment spanning amino acids ~ 90-155. This fragment is produced by successive N-terminal and C-terminal cleavages from a full-length and largely detergent-soluble PrPSc, is produced in vivo and is extremely resistant to PK digestion.
*** Intriguingly, these conclusions suggest that some pathological features of Nor98 are reminiscent of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease.
119
A newly identified type of scrapie agent can naturally infect sheep with resistant PrP genotypes
Annick Le Dur*,?, Vincent Béringue*,?, Olivier Andréoletti?, Fabienne Reine*, Thanh Lan Laï*, Thierry Baron§, Bjørn Bratberg¶, Jean-Luc Vilotte?, Pierre Sarradin**, Sylvie L. Benestad¶, and Hubert Laude*,? +Author Affiliations
*Virologie Immunologie Moléculaires and ?Génétique Biochimique et Cytogénétique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France; ?Unité Mixte de Recherche, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, Interactions Hôte Agent Pathogène, 31066 Toulouse, France; §Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, Unité Agents Transmissibles Non Conventionnels, 69364 Lyon, France; **Pathologie Infectieuse et Immunologie, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France; and ¶Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Institute, 0033 Oslo, Norway
***Edited by Stanley B. Prusiner, University of California, San Francisco, CA (received for review March 21, 2005)
Abstract Scrapie in small ruminants belongs to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, a family of fatal neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and animals and can transmit within and between species by ingestion or inoculation. Conversion of the host-encoded prion protein (PrP), normal cellular PrP (PrPc), into a misfolded form, abnormal PrP (PrPSc), plays a key role in TSE transmission and pathogenesis. The intensified surveillance of scrapie in the European Union, together with the improvement of PrPSc detection techniques, has led to the discovery of a growing number of so-called atypical scrapie cases. These include clinical Nor98 cases first identified in Norwegian sheep on the basis of unusual pathological and PrPSc molecular features and "cases" that produced discordant responses in the rapid tests currently applied to the large-scale random screening of slaughtered or fallen animals. Worryingly, a substantial proportion of such cases involved sheep with PrP genotypes known until now to confer natural resistance to conventional scrapie. Here we report that both Nor98 and discordant cases, including three sheep homozygous for the resistant PrPARR allele (A136R154R171), efficiently transmitted the disease to transgenic mice expressing ovine PrP, and that they shared unique biological and biochemical features upon propagation in mice. *** These observations support the view that a truly infectious TSE agent, unrecognized until recently, infects sheep and goat flocks and may have important implications in terms of scrapie control and public health.
Monday, December 1, 2008
When Atypical Scrapie cross species barriers
Authors
Andreoletti O., Herva M. H., Cassard H., Espinosa J. C., Lacroux C., Simon S., Padilla D., Benestad S. L., Lantier F., Schelcher F., Grassi J., Torres, J. M., UMR INRA ENVT 1225, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse.France; ICISA-INlA, Madrid, Spain; CEA, IBiTec-5, DSV, CEA/Saclay, Gif sur Yvette cedex, France; National Veterinary Institute, Postboks 750 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Norway, INRA IASP, Centre INRA de Tours, 3738O Nouzilly, France.
Content
Atypical scrapie is a TSE occurring in small ruminants and harbouring peculiar clinical, epidemiological and biochemical properties. Currently this form of disease is identified in a large number of countries. In this study we report the transmission of an atypical scrapie isolate through different species barriers as modeled by transgenic mice (Tg) expressing different species PRP sequence.
The donor isolate was collected in 1995 in a French commercial sheep flock. inoculation into AHQ/AHQ sheep induced a disease which had all neuro-pathological and biochemical characteristics of atypical scrapie. Transmitted into Transgenic mice expressing either ovine or PrPc, the isolate retained all the described characteristics of atypical scrapie.
Surprisingly the TSE agent characteristics were dramatically different v/hen passaged into Tg bovine mice. The recovered TSE agent had biological and biochemical characteristics similar to those of atypical BSE L in the same mouse model. Moreover, whereas no other TSE agent than BSE were shown to transmit into Tg porcine mice, atypical scrapie was able to develop into this model, albeit with low attack rate on first passage.
Furthermore, after adaptation in the porcine mouse model this prion showed similar biological and biochemical characteristics than BSE adapted to this porcine mouse model. Altogether these data indicate.
(i) the unsuspected potential abilities of atypical scrapie to cross species barriers
(ii) the possible capacity of this agent to acquire new characteristics when crossing species barrier
These findings raise some interrogation on the concept of TSE strain and on the origin of the diversity of the TSE agents and could have consequences on field TSE control measures.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020
Radical Change in Zoonotic Abilities of Atypical BSE Prion Strains as Evidenced by Crossing of Sheep Species Barrier in Transgenic Mice
Atypical BSE prions showed a modification in their zoonotic ability after adaptation to sheep-PrP producing agents able to infect TgMet129 and TgVal129, bearing features that make them indistinguishable of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions.
our results clearly indicate that atypical BSE adaptation to an ovine-PrP sequence could modify the prion agent to potentially infect humans, showing strain features indistinguishable from those of classic sCJD prions, even though they might or might not be different agents.
However, the expanding range of TSE agents displaying the capacity to transmit in human-PrP–expressing hosts warrants the continuation of the ban on meat and bone meal recycling and underscores the ongoing need for active surveillance
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020
Scrapie TSE Prion Zoonosis Zoonotic, what if?
***Moreover, sporadic disease has never been observed in breeding colonies or primate research laboratories, most notably among hundreds of animals over several decades of study at the National Institutes of Health25, and in nearly twenty older animals continuously housed in our own facility.***
Even if the prevailing view is that sporadic CJD is due to the spontaneous formation of CJD prions, it remains possible that its apparent sporadic nature may, at least in part, result from our limited capacity to identify an environmental origin.
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11573
O.05: Transmission of prions to primates after extended silent incubation periods: Implications for BSE and scrapie risk assessment in human populations
Emmanuel Comoy, Jacqueline Mikol, Valerie Durand, Sophie Luccantoni, Evelyne Correia, Nathalie Lescoutra, Capucine Dehen, and Jean-Philippe Deslys Atomic Energy Commission; Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD summing 80% of human prion cases).
Non-human primate models provided the first evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid origins even after very long silent incubation periods.
*** We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period,
***with features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold long incubation than BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014),
***is the third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE),
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases.
We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.
===============
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases***
===============
***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.
==============
https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/prion2015abstracts.pdf
***Transmission data also revealed that several scrapie prions propagate in HuPrP-Tg mice with efficiency comparable to that of cattle BSE. While the efficiency of transmission at primary passage was low, subsequent passages resulted in a highly virulent prion disease in both Met129 and Val129 mice.
***Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion.
***These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19336896.2016.1163048?journalCode=kprn20
Prion diseases (PD) are the unique neurodegenerative proteinopathies reputed to be transmissible under field conditions since decades. The transmission of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) to humans evidenced that an animal PD might be zoonotic under appropriate conditions. Contrarily, in the absence of obvious (epidemiological or experimental) elements supporting a transmission or genetic predispositions, PD, like the other proteinopathies, are reputed to occur spontaneously (atpical animal prion strains, sporadic CJD summing 80% of human prion cases).
Non-human primate models provided the first evidences supporting the transmissibiity of human prion strains and the zoonotic potential of BSE. Among them, cynomolgus macaques brought major information for BSE risk assessment for human health (Chen, 2014), according to their phylogenetic proximity to humans and extended lifetime. We used this model to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal PD from bovine, ovine and cervid origins even after very long silent incubation periods.
*** We recently observed the direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to macaque after a 10-year silent incubation period,
***with features similar to some reported for human cases of sporadic CJD, albeit requiring fourfold long incubation than BSE. Scrapie, as recently evoked in humanized mice (Cassard, 2014),
***is the third potentially zoonotic PD (with BSE and L-type BSE),
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases.
We will present an updated panorama of our different transmission studies and discuss the implications of such extended incubation periods on risk assessment of animal PD for human health.
===============
***thus questioning the origin of human sporadic cases***
===============
***our findings suggest that possible transmission risk of H-type BSE to sheep and human. Bioassay will be required to determine whether the PMCA products are infectious to these animals.
==============
https://prion2015.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/prion2015abstracts.pdf
***Transmission data also revealed that several scrapie prions propagate in HuPrP-Tg mice with efficiency comparable to that of cattle BSE. While the efficiency of transmission at primary passage was low, subsequent passages resulted in a highly virulent prion disease in both Met129 and Val129 mice.
***Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion.
***These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19336896.2016.1163048?journalCode=kprn20
PRION 2016 TOKYO
Saturday, April 23, 2016
SCRAPIE WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential 2016
Prion. 10:S15-S21. 2016 ISSN: 1933-6896 printl 1933-690X online
Taylor & Francis
Prion 2016 Animal Prion Disease Workshop Abstracts
WS-01: Prion diseases in animals and zoonotic potential
Transmission of the different scrapie isolates in these mice leads to the emergence of prion strain phenotypes that showed similar characteristics to those displayed by MM1 or VV2 sCJD prion.
These results demonstrate that scrapie prions have a zoonotic potential and raise new questions about the possible link between animal and human prions.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19336896.2016.1163048?journalCode=kprn20
Title: Transmission of scrapie prions to primate after an extended silent incubation period)
*** In complement to the recent demonstration that humanized mice are susceptible to scrapie, we report here the first observation of direct transmission of a natural classical scrapie isolate to a macaque after a 10-year incubation period. Neuropathologic examination revealed all of the features of a prion disease: spongiform change, neuronal loss, and accumulation of PrPres throughout the CNS.
*** This observation strengthens the questioning of the harmlessness of scrapie to humans, at a time when protective measures for human and animal health are being dismantled and reduced as c-BSE is considered controlled and being eradicated.
*** Our results underscore the importance of precautionary and protective measures and the necessity for long-term experimental transmission studies to assess the zoonotic potential of other animal prion strains.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=313160
1: J Infect Dis 1980 Aug;142(2):205-8
Oral transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie to nonhuman primates.
Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Bacote A, Masters CL, Gajdusek DC.
Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of humans and scrapie disease of sheep and goats were transmitted to squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) that were exposed to the infectious agents only by their nonforced consumption of known infectious tissues. The asymptomatic incubation period in the one monkey exposed to the virus of kuru was 36 months; that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was 23 and 27 months, respectively; and that in the two monkeys exposed to the virus of scrapie was 25 and 32 months, respectively. Careful physical examination of the buccal cavities of all of the monkeys failed to reveal signs or oral lesions. One additional monkey similarly exposed to kuru has remained asymptomatic during the 39 months that it has been under observation.
snip...
The successful transmission of kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie by natural feeding to squirrel monkeys that we have reported provides further grounds for concern that scrapie-infected meat may occasionally give rise in humans to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
PMID: 6997404
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6997404&dopt=Abstract
Recently the question has again been brought up as to whether scrapie is transmissible to man. This has followed reports that the disease has been transmitted to primates. One particularly lurid speculation (Gajdusek 1977) conjectures that the agents of scrapie, kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and transmissible encephalopathy of mink are varieties of a single "virus". The U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded that it could "no longer justify or permit scrapie-blood line and scrapie-exposed sheep and goats to be processed for human or animal food at slaughter or rendering plants" (ARC 84/77)" The problem is emphasised by the finding that some strains of scrapie produce lesions identical to the once which characterise the human dementias"
Whether true or not. the hypothesis that these agents might be transmissible to man raises two considerations. First, the safety of laboratory personnel requires prompt attention. Second, action such as the "scorched meat" policy of USDA makes the solution of the acrapie problem urgent if the sheep industry is not to suffer grievously.
snip...
76/10.12/4.6
Nature. 1972 Mar 10;236(5341):73-4.
Transmission of scrapie to the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis).
Gibbs CJ Jr, Gajdusek DC.
Nature 236, 73 - 74 (10 March 1972); doi:10.1038/236073a0
Transmission of Scrapie to the Cynomolgus Monkey (Macaca fascicularis)
C. J. GIBBS jun. & D. C. GAJDUSEK
National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
SCRAPIE has been transmitted to the cynomolgus, or crab-eating, monkey (Macaca fascicularis) with an incubation period of more than 5 yr from the time of intracerebral inoculation of scrapie-infected mouse brain. The animal developed a chronic central nervous system degeneration, with ataxia, tremor and myoclonus with associated severe scrapie-like pathology of intensive astroglial hypertrophy and proliferation, neuronal vacuolation and status spongiosus of grey matter. The strain of scrapie virus used was the eighth passage in Swiss mice (NIH) of a Compton strain of scrapie obtained as ninth intracerebral passage of the agent in goat brain, from Dr R. L. Chandler (ARC, Compton, Berkshire).
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2019
Review: Update on Classical and Atypical Scrapie in Sheep and Goats
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011
Atypical/Nor98 Scrapie Infectivity in Sheep Peripheral Tissues
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
IN CONFIDENCE
SCRAPIE TRANSMISSION TO CHIMPANZEES
IN CONFIDENCE
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2020
Scrapie TSE Prion Zoonosis Zoonotic, what if?
2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strains
2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strains
Olivier Andreoletti, INRA Research Director, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) – École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), invited speaker, presented the results of two recently published scientific articles of interest, of which he is co-author: ‘Radical Change in Zoonotic Abilities of Atypical BSE Prion Strains as Evidenced by Crossing of Sheep Species Barrier in Transgenic Mice’ (MarinMoreno et al., 2020) and ‘The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/Nor98 scrapie’ (Huor et al., 2019).
In the first experimental study, H-type and L-type BSE were inoculated into transgenic mice expressing all three genotypes of the human PRNP at codon 129 and into adapted into ARQ and VRQ transgenic sheep mice. The results showed the alterations of the capacities to cross the human barrier species (mouse model) and emergence of sporadic CJD agents in Hu PrP expressing mice: type 2 sCJD in homozygous TgVal129 VRQ-passaged L-BSE, and type 1 sCJD in homozygous TgVal 129 and TgMet129 VRQ-passaged H-BSE.
Scrapie
The two Commissions discussed the issue of ‘atypical’ scrapie in terms of notification requirements and the issue of the host genetic resistance. In response to questions of Members, the Code Commission clarified that ‘classical’ scrapie is reportable to the OIE but that ‘atypical’ scrapie is not reportable (in accordance with the recommendations made by the ad hoc Group on Atypical Scrapie and Atypical BSE, which met in November 2007). However, the sharing of scientific information on ‘atypical’ scrapie is encouraged. At this time, the Code Commission considered that more scientific information would be needed to fully address the issues associated with host genotype.
EU comment
4
OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission / September 2010
The EU takes note of the fact that atypical scrapie is not an OIE listed disease. Nevertheless, it will remain notifiable in the EU. Moreover it must be stressed that any emergence of this disease should be notified to the OIE by Members and that scientific data should continue to be gathered.
snip...
Zoonotic Potential
Has transmission to humans been proven? (with the exception of artificial
circumstances) AND
Is human infection associated with severe consequences? (death or prolonged illness)
snip...
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Nor-98 atypical Scrapie, atypical BSE, spontaneous TSE, trade policy, sound science ?
Monday, November 30, 2009
***> USDA AND OIE COLLABORATE TO EXCLUDE ATYPICAL SCRAPIE NOR-98 ANIMAL HEALTH CODE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021
SENATORS URGE BIDEN TO WITHDRAW SHEEP IMPORT RULE DUE TO SCRAPIE TSE Prion CONCERNS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 2020 IMPACT REPORT BSE TSE Prion Testing and Surveillance MIA
Sunday, January 10, 2021
APHIS Concurrence With OIE Risk Designation for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy [Docket No. APHIS-2018-0087] Singeltary Submission June 17, 2019
I once again, with great urgency, strenuously urge the USDA and the OIE et al to revoke the exemption of the legal global trading of atypical Nor-98 scrapie TSE Prion, and make any and all, atypical scrapie, a mandatory reportable disease ASAP!
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
Transmission of the atypical/Nor98 scrapie agent to Suffolk sheep with VRQ/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, and ARQ/ARR genotypes
''Given the results of this study, current diagnostic techniques would be unlikely to distinguish CWD in sheep from scrapie in sheep if cross-species transmission occurred naturally.''
J Vet Diagn Invest.
2021 May 28;10406387211017615. doi: 10.1177/10406387211017615. Online ahead of print.
Second passage of chronic wasting disease of mule deer to sheep by intracranial inoculation compared to classical scrapie
Eric D Cassmann 1, Rylie D Frese 1, Justin J Greenlee 1
Affiliations expand
PMID: 34047228 DOI: http://10.1177/10406387211017615
Abstract
The origin of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids is unclear. One hypothesis suggests that CWD originated from scrapie in sheep. We compared the disease phenotype of sheep-adapted CWD to classical scrapie in sheep. We inoculated sheep intracranially with brain homogenate from first-passage mule deer CWD in sheep (sCWDmd). The attack rate in second-passage sheep was 100% (12 of 12). Sheep had prominent lymphoid accumulations of PrPSc reminiscent of classical scrapie. The pattern and distribution of PrPSc in the brains of sheep with CWDmd was similar to scrapie strain 13-7 but different from scrapie strain x124. The western blot glycoprofiles of sCWDmd were indistinguishable from scrapie strain 13-7; however, independent of sheep genotype, glycoprofiles of sCWDmd were different than x124. When sheep genotypes were evaluated individually, there was considerable overlap in the glycoprofiles that precluded significant discrimination between sheep CWD and scrapie strains. Our data suggest that the phenotype of CWD in sheep is indistinguishable from some strains of scrapie in sheep. Given our results, current detection techniques would be unlikely to distinguish CWD in sheep from scrapie in sheep if cross-species transmission occurred naturally. It is unknown if sheep are naturally vulnerable to CWD; however, the susceptibility of sheep after intracranial inoculation and lymphoid accumulation indicates that the species barrier is not absolute.
Keywords: PrPSc proteins; chronic wasting disease; deer; prions; scrapie; sheep.
Research Project: Pathobiology, Genetics, and Detection of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: Second passage of chronic wasting disease of mule deer in sheep compared to classical scrapie after intracranial inoculation
Author item Cassmann, Eric item FRESE, RYLIE - Orise Fellow item Greenlee, Justin
Submitted to: Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 11/25/2020 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A
Interpretive Summary: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal and uncurable brain disease of deer and elk that is related to a similar disease in sheep called scrapie. Both diseases are cause by a misfolded protein called a prion. The exact origin of CWD is unknown, but a possible origin could have been spread of sheep scrapie to deer. Previous research found indistinguishable traits in common between CWD in deer and scrapie in sheep. Additionally, it is unknown if deer CWD can naturally transmit to sheep. In this research, we show that abnormal prions spread throughout the body of sheep intracranially infected with CWD similar to how scrapie spreads in sheep. We compared two US classical scrapie strains to CWD in sheep and found that one of these strains is indistinguishable from sheep CWD. These results demonstrate that current diagnostic techniques would be unlikely to distinguish CWD in sheep from scrapie in sheep if cross-species transmission occurred in a natural setting. This research reinforces the need to continue ongoing cross-species transmission studies focusing on oral susceptibility of sheep to CWD and develop techniques to discriminate sheep CWD from sheep scrapie.
Technical Abstract: The origin of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids is unclear. One hypothesis suggests that CWD originated from scrapie in sheep. In this experiment, we had two main objectives. The first objective was to determine if CWD adaptation in sheep alters the disease phenotype. The second objective was to determine if the disease phenotype of sheep adapted CWD is distinct from classical scrapie. We intracranially inoculated sheep with brain homogenate from first passage mule deer CWD in sheep (sCWDmd). The attack rate in second passage sheep was 100% (12/12). Sheep had prominent lymphoid accumulations of PrPSc reminiscent of classical scrapie. The pattern and distribution of PrPSc in the brains of sheep with CWDmd was similar to scrapie strain 13-7 but different from scrapie strain x124. The western blot glycoprofiles of sCWDmd were indistinguishable from scrapie strain 13-7; however, independent of sheep genotype, glycoprofiles of sCWDmd were different than x124. When sheep genotypes were evaluated individually, there was considerable overlap in the glycoprofiles that precluded significant discrimination between sheep CWD and scrapie strains. Taken together, these data suggest that the phenotype of CWD in sheep is indistinguishable from some strains of scrapie in sheep. Given the results of this study, current diagnostic techniques would be unlikely to distinguish CWD in sheep from scrapie in sheep if cross-species transmission occurred naturally. It is unknown if sheep are naturally vulnerable to CWD; however, the susceptibility of sheep after intracranial inoculation and lymphoid accumulation indicates that the species barrier is not absolute.
''We inoculated WTD by a natural route of exposure (concurrent oral and intranasal (IN); n=5) with a US scrapie isolate. All scrapie-inoculated deer had evidence of PrPSc accumulation.''
Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES
Title: Scrapie transmits to white-tailed deer by the oral route and has a molecular profile similar to chronic wasting disease Authors
item Greenlee, Justin item Moore, S – item Smith, Jodi – item Kunkle, Robert item West Greenlee, M –
Submitted to: American College of Veterinary Pathologists Meeting Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: August 12, 2015 Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract: The purpose of this work was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to the agent of sheep scrapie and to compare the resultant PrPSc to that of the original inoculum and chronic wasting disease (CWD). We inoculated WTD by a natural route of exposure (concurrent oral and intranasal (IN); n=5) with a US scrapie isolate. All scrapie-inoculated deer had evidence of PrPSc accumulation. PrPSc was detected in lymphoid tissues at preclinical time points, and deer necropsied after 28 months post-inoculation had clinical signs, spongiform encephalopathy, and widespread distribution of PrPSc in neural and lymphoid tissues. Western blotting (WB) revealed PrPSc with 2 distinct molecular profiles. WB on cerebral cortex had a profile similar to the original scrapie inoculum, whereas WB of brainstem, cerebellum, or lymph nodes revealed PrPSc with a higher profile resembling CWD. Homogenates with the 2 distinct profiles from WTD with clinical scrapie were further passaged to mice expressing cervid prion protein and intranasally to sheep and WTD. In cervidized mice, the two inocula have distinct incubation times. Sheep inoculated intranasally with WTD derived scrapie developed disease, but only after inoculation with the inoculum that had a scrapie-like profile. The WTD study is ongoing, but deer in both inoculation groups are positive for PrPSc by rectal mucosal biopsy.
In summary, this work demonstrates that WTD are susceptible to the agent of scrapie, two distinct molecular profiles of PrPSc are present in the tissues of affected deer, and inoculum of either profile readily passes to deer.
Research Project: Pathobiology, Genetics, and Detection of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies
Location: Virus and Prion Research
Title: Passage of scrapie to deer results in a new phenotype upon return passage to sheep) Author
item Greenlee, Justin item Kokemuller, Robyn item Moore, Sarah item West Greenlee, N
Submitted to: Prion
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: Aims: We previously demonstrated that scrapie has a 100% attack rate in white-tailed deer after either intracranial or oral inoculation. Samples from deer that developed scrapie had two different western blot patterns: samples derived from cerebrum had a banding pattern similar to the scrapie inoculum, but samples from brainstem had a banding pattern similar to CWD. In contrast, transmission of CWD from white-tailed deer to sheep by the intracranial route has a low attack rate and to-date oronasal exposure has been unsuccessful. The purpose of this study was to determine if sheep are susceptible to oronasal exposure of the scrapie agent derived from white-tailed deer.
Methods: At approximately 5 months of age, Suffolk sheep of various PRNP genotypes were challenged by the oronasal route with 10% brain homogenate derived from either the cerebrum or the brainstem of scrapie-affected deer. Genotypes represented in each inoculation group were VV136RR154QQ171 (n=2), AA136RR154QQ171 (n=2), and AV136RR154QR171 (n=1). After inoculation, sheep were observed daily for clinical signs. Upon development of clinical signs, sheep were killed with an overdose of pentobarbital sodium and necropsied. Tissue samples were tested for the presence of PrPSc by EIA, western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The No. 13-7 scrapie inoculum used for the deer has a mean incubation period of 20.1 months in sheep with the AA136RR154QQ171 genotype and 26.7 months in sheep with the VV136RR154QQ171 genotype.
Results: Sheep inoculated oronasally with WTD derived scrapie developed disease, but only after inoculation with the inoculum from the cerebrum that had a scrapie-like profile. The first sheep to develop clinical signs at approximately 29 months post inoculation had the VV136RR154QQ171 genotype. Eventually sheep of the AA136RR154QQ171 genotype developed clinical signs, but at a mean incubation of 52 months. At 62 months post-inoculation, none of the sheep inoculated with material from the deer brainstem have developed clinical disease.
Conclusions: The No. 13-7 inoculum used in the original deer experiment readily infects white-tailed deer and sheep of various genotypes by the oronasal route. When inoculum is made from different brain regions of No 13-7 scrapie-infected deer from either cerebrum with a scrapie-like western blot pattern or brainstem with a CWD-like western blot pattern, sheep with the VV136RR154QQ171 genotype are the first to develop clinical signs. This is in contrast to the original No. 13-7 inoculum that has a faster incubation period in sheep with the AA136RR154QQ171 genotype. Similar to experiments conducted with CWD, sheep oronasally inoculated with brainstem material from deer with a CWD-like molecular profile have no evidence of disease after 62 months of incubation. While scrapie is not known to occur in free-ranging populations of white-tailed deer, experimental cases are difficult to differentiate from CWD. This work raises the potential concern that scrapie infected deer could serve as a confounding factor to scrapie eradication programs as scrapie from deer seems to be transmissible to sheep by the oronasal route.
Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES
Title: Transmission of the agent of sheep scrapie to deer results in PrPSc with two distinct molecular profiles
Authors item Greenlee, Justin item Moore, Sarah - item Smith, Jodi item West Greenlee, Mary - item Kunkle, Robert Submitted to: Prion Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: March 31, 2015 Publication Date: May 25, 2015 Citation: Greenlee, J., Moore, S.J., Smith, J.., West Greenlee, M.H., Kunkle, R. 2015.
Scrapie transmits to white-tailed deer by the oral route and has a molecular profile similar to chronic wasting disease and distinct from the scrapie inoculum.
Prion 2015. p. S62.
Technical Abstract: The purpose of this work was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer (WTD) to the agent of sheep scrapie and to compare the resultant PrPSc to that of the original inoculum and chronic wasting disease (CWD). We inoculated WTD by a natural route of exposure (concurrent oral and intranasal (IN); n=5) with a US scrapie isolate. All scrapie-inoculated deer had evidence of PrPSc accumulation. PrPSc was detected in lymphoid tissues at preclinical time points, and deer necropsied after 28 months post-inoculation had clinical signs, spongiform encephalopathy, and widespread distribution of PrPSc in neural and lymphoid tissues. Western blotting (WB) revealed PrPSc with 2 distinct molecular profiles. WB on cerebral cortex had a profile similar to the original scrapie inoculum, whereas WB of brainstem, cerebellum, or lymph nodes reveal PrPSc with a higher profile resembling CWD. Homogenates with the 2 distinct profiles from WTD with clinical scrapie were further passaged to mice expressing cervid prion protein and intranasally to sheep and WTD. In cervidized mice, the two inocula have distinct incubation times. Sheep inoculated intranasally with WTD derived scrapie developed disease, but only after inoculation with the inoculum that had a scrapie-like profile. The WTD study is ongoing, but deer in both inoculation groups are positive for PrPSc by rectal mucosal biopsy.
In summary, this work demonstrates that WTD are susceptible to the agent of scrapie, two distinct molecular profiles of PrPSc are present in the tissues of affected deer, and inoculum of either profile type readily passes to deer.
White-tailed Deer are Susceptible to Scrapie by Natural Route of Infection
Jodi D. Smith, Justin J. Greenlee, and Robert A. Kunkle; Virus and Prion Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, USDA-ARS
Interspecies transmission studies afford the opportunity to better understand the potential host range and origins of prion diseases. Previous experiments demonstrated that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep-derived scrapie by intracranial inoculation. The purpose of this study was to determine susceptibility of white-tailed deer to scrapie after a natural route of exposure. Deer (n=5) were inoculated by concurrent oral (30 ml) and intranasal (1 ml) instillation of a 10% (wt/vol) brain homogenate derived from a sheep clinically affected with scrapie. Non-inoculated deer were maintained as negative controls. All deer were observed daily for clinical signs. Deer were euthanized and necropsied when neurologic disease was evident, and tissues were examined for abnormal prion protein (PrPSc) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and western blot (WB). One animal was euthanized 15 months post-inoculation (MPI) due to an injury. At that time, examination of obex and lymphoid tissues by IHC was positive, but WB of obex and colliculus were negative. Remaining deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 MPI. Tissues from these deer were positive for scrapie by IHC and WB. Tissues with PrPSc immunoreactivity included brain, tonsil, retropharyngeal and mesenteric lymph nodes, hemal node, Peyer’s patches, and spleen. This work demonstrates for the first time that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep scrapie by potential natural routes of inoculation. In-depth analysis of tissues will be done to determine similarities between scrapie in deer after intracranial and oral/intranasal inoculation and chronic wasting disease resulting from similar routes of inoculation.
see full text ;
PO-039: A comparison of scrapie and chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer
Justin Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson US Dept. Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center; Ames, IA USA
White-tailed deer are susceptible to the agent of sheep scrapie by intracerebral inoculation
snip...
It is unlikely that CWD will be eradicated from free-ranging cervids, and the disease is likely to continue to spread geographically [10]. However, the potential that white-tailed deer may be susceptible to sheep scrapie by a natural route presents an additional confounding factor to halting the spread of CWD. This leads to the additional speculations that
1) infected deer could serve as a reservoir to infect sheep with scrapie offering challenges to scrapie eradication efforts and
2) CWD spread need not remain geographically confined to current endemic areas, but could occur anywhere that sheep with scrapie and susceptible cervids cohabitate.
This work demonstrates for the first time that white-tailed deer are susceptible to sheep scrapie by intracerebral inoculation with a high attack rate and that the disease that results has similarities to CWD.
These experiments will be repeated with a more natural route of inoculation to determine the likelihood of the potential transmission of sheep scrapie to white-tailed deer. If scrapie were to occur in white-tailed deer, results of this study indicate that it would be detected as a TSE, but may be difficult to differentiate from CWD without in-depth biochemical analysis.
2012 PO-039: A comparison of scrapie and chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer
Justin Greenlee, Jodi Smith, Eric Nicholson US Dept. Agriculture; Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center; Ames, IA USA
snip...
The results of this study suggest that there are many similarities in the manifestation of CWD and scrapie in WTD after IC inoculation including early and widespread presence of PrPSc in lymphoid tissues, clinical signs of depression and weight loss progressing to wasting, and an incubation time of 21-23 months.
Moreover, western blots (WB) done on brain material from the obex region have a molecular profile similar to CWD and distinct from tissues of the cerebrum or the scrapie inoculum. However, results of microscopic and IHC examination indicate that there are differences between the lesions expected in CWD and those that occur in deer with scrapie: amyloid plaques were not noted in any sections of brain examined from these deer and the pattern of immunoreactivity by IHC was diffuse rather than plaque-like.
*** After a natural route of exposure, 100% of WTD were susceptible to scrapie.
Deer developed clinical signs of wasting and mental depression and were necropsied from 28 to 33 months PI. Tissues from these deer were positive for PrPSc by IHC and WB.
Similar to IC inoculated deer, samples from these deer exhibited two different molecular profiles: samples from obex resembled CWD whereas those from cerebrum were similar to the original scrapie inoculum. On further examination by WB using a panel of antibodies, the tissues from deer with scrapie exhibit properties differing from tissues either from sheep with scrapie or WTD with CWD. Samples from WTD with CWD or sheep with scrapie are strongly immunoreactive when probed with mAb P4, however, samples from WTD with scrapie are only weakly immunoreactive. In contrast, when probed with mAb’s 6H4 or SAF 84, samples from sheep with scrapie and WTD with CWD are weakly immunoreactive and samples from WTD with scrapie are strongly positive.
This work demonstrates that WTD are highly susceptible to sheep scrapie, but on first passage, scrapie in WTD is differentiable from CWD.
2011
*** After a natural route of exposure, 100% of white-tailed deer were susceptible to scrapie.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
USAHA Detailed Events Schedule – 119th USAHA Annual Meeting CAPTIVE LIVESTOCK CWD SCRAPIE TSE PRION
COLORADO THE ORIGIN OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION?
*** Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD. The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr. Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had previously been occupied by sheep.
IN CONFIDENCE, REPORT OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL SLOW VIRUS DISEASE IN ANIMALS IN THE USA 1989
ALSO, one of the most, if not the most top TSE Prion God in Science today is Professor Adriano Aguzzi, and he recently commented on just this, on a cwd post on my facebook page August 20 at 1:44pm, quote;
''it pains me to no end to even comtemplate the possibility, but it seems entirely plausible that CWD originated from scientist-made spread of scrapie from sheep to deer in the colorado research facility. If true, a terrible burden for those involved.'' August 20 at 1:44pm ...end
cwd scrapie pigs oral routes
***> However, at 51 months of incubation or greater, 5 animals were positive by one or more diagnostic methods. Furthermore, positive bioassay results were obtained from all inoculated groups (oral and intracranial; market weight and end of study) suggesting that swine are potential hosts for the agent of scrapie. <***
>*** Although the current U.S. feed ban is based on keeping tissues from TSE infected cattle from contaminating animal feed, swine rations in the U.S. could contain animal derived components including materials from scrapie infected sheep and goats. These results indicating the susceptibility of pigs to sheep scrapie, coupled with the limitations of the current feed ban, indicates that a revision of the feed ban may be necessary to protect swine production and potentially human health. <***
***> Results: PrPSc was not detected by EIA and IHC in any RPLNs. All tonsils and MLNs were negative by IHC, though the MLN from one pig in the oral <6 month group was positive by EIA. PrPSc was detected by QuIC in at least one of the lymphoid tissues examined in 5/6 pigs in the intracranial <6 months group, 6/7 intracranial >6 months group, 5/6 pigs in the oral <6 months group, and 4/6 oral >6 months group. Overall, the MLN was positive in 14/19 (74%) of samples examined, the RPLN in 8/18 (44%), and the tonsil in 10/25 (40%).
***> Conclusions: This study demonstrates that PrPSc accumulates in lymphoid tissues from pigs challenged intracranially or orally with the CWD agent, and can be detected as early as 4 months after challenge. CWD-infected pigs rarely develop clinical disease and if they do, they do so after a long incubation period. This raises the possibility that CWD-infected pigs could shed prions into their environment long before they develop clinical disease. Furthermore, lymphoid tissues from CWD-infected pigs could present a potential source of CWD infectivity in the animal and human food chains.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 05, 2021
Scrapie infected sheep and goat herd was identified in Wisconsin on March 16, 2021
Ohio Scrapie Cases in Goats FY 2002 – FY 2021
Ohio atypical scrapie Nor-98 TSE Prion detected 2010 1 case documented
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021
Atypical Nor-98 Scrapie TSE Prion USA State by State Update January 2021
TEXAS CHRONIC WASTIND DISEASE CWD TSE PRION CASES JUMPS TO 228 CONFIRMED
In Texas, the disease was first discovered in 2012 in free-ranging mule deer along a remote area of the Hueco Mountains near the Texas-New Mexico border and has since been detected in 228 captive or free-ranging cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, red deer and elk in 13 Texas counties. For more information on previous detections visit the CWD page on the TPWD website.
TEXAS CWD, see the latest positives;
2021-04-27 Breeder Deer Mason Facility #10 White-tailed Deer M 2.482191781
2021-04-27 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 1.5
2021-04-27 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 1.5
2021-04-20 Breeder Deer Matagorda Facility #9 White-tailed Deer F 1.5
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer F 3.536986301
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 2.178082192
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 3.5
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 1.545205479
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Uvalde Facility #7 White-tailed Deer M 2.482191781
2021-03-29 Breeder Deer Hunt Facility #8 White-tailed Deer F 2.482191781
expand to see all;
Texas Kimble County Farm Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion Approximate Herd Prevalence 12%
Texas Kimble County Farm Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion Approximate Herd Prevalence 12%
SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE 407th COMMISSION MEETING Texas Animal Health Commission
September 22, 2020
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD):
A new CWD positive breeding herd was disclosed in February 2020 in Kimble County. This herd depopulation was completed in July 2020. Including the two index positive deer, an additional eight more positive deer were disclosed (approximate herd prevalence 12%). Since July 2015 and prior to this discovery, five positive captive breeder herds have been disclosed and four of those are in Medina County. One herd in Lavaca and three herds in Medina County were depopulated leaving one large herd in Medina County that is managed on a herd plan. A new zone was established in Val Verde County in December 2019 as a result of a positive free-ranging White-tailed Deer (WTD). A second positive WTD was also disclosed in February 2020 in the same area.
“Regrettably, the gravity of this situation continues to mount with these new CWD positive discoveries, as well as with the full understanding of just how many other facilities and release sites across Texas were connected to the CWD positive sites in Uvalde and Hunt Counties,” said Carter Smith, Executive Director of TPWD.
May 14, 2021
Chronic Wasting Disease Discovered at Deer Breeding Facilities in Matagorda and Mason Counties
Existing rules already restrict the movement of deer from 264 sites in 95 counties that are directly linked to these CWD-positive facilities, but further measures are necessary given the gravity of this situation.
“Regrettably, the gravity of this situation continues to mount with these new CWD positive discoveries, as well as with the full understanding of just how many other facilities and release sites across Texas were connected to the CWD positive sites in Uvalde and Hunt Counties,” said Carter Smith, Executive Director of TPWD.
***> TEXAS BREEDER DEER ESCAPEE WITH CWD IN THE WILD, or so the genetics would show?
OH NO, please tell me i heard this wrong, a potential Texas captive escapee with cwd in the wild, in an area with positive captive cwd herd?
apparently, no ID though. tell me it ain't so please...
23:00 minute mark
''Free Ranging Deer, Dr. Deyoung looked at Genetics of this free ranging deer and what he found was, that the genetics on this deer were more similar to captive deer, than the free ranging population, but he did not see a significant connection to any one captive facility that he analyzed, so we believe, Ahhhhhh, this animal had some captive ahhh, whatnot.''
TEXAS CWD STRAIN
77. Assessing chronic wasting disease strain differences in free-ranging cervids across the United States
Kaitlyn M. Wagnera, Caitlin Ott-Connb, Kelly Strakab, Bob Dittmarc, Jasmine Battend, Robyn Piercea, Mercedes Hennessya, Elizabeth Gordona, Brett Israela, Jenn Ballarde and Mark D Zabela
aPrion Research Center at Colorado State University; bMichigan Department of Natural Resources; cTexas Parks and Wildlife Department; dMissouri Department of Conservation, 5. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission CONTACT Kaitlyn M. Wagner miedkait@rams.colostate.edu
ABSTRACT
Background/Introduction: Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an invariably fatal prion disease affecting captive and free-ranging cervids, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, and reindeer. Since the initial description of the disease in the 1960’s, CWD has spread to 23 states, 3 Canadian Provinces, South Korea, Norway and, most recently, Finland. While some outbreaks of CWD were caused by transport of infected animals from endemic regions, the origin of CWD in other epizootics is unclear and has not been characterized. Previous studies have shown that there are two distinct strains of CWD. However, the continuous spread and the unclear origin of several outbreaks warrant continued surveillance and further characterization of strain diversity.
Materials and Methods: To address these knowledge gaps, we used biochemical tests to assess strain differences between CWD outbreaks in Michigan, Texas, Missouri, and Colorado, USA. Brain or lymph node samples were homogenized and digested in 50 µg/mL proteinase K (PK). These samples were then run on a Western blot to assess glycoform ratio and electrophoretic mobility. Texas samples were digested in 100 µg/mL PK. To assess conformational stability, brain or lymph node homogenates were incubated in increasing concentrations of guanidine hydrochloride from 0 M to 4 M in 0.5 M increments. Samples were then precipitated in methanol overnight, washed and PK digested in 50 µg/mL PK before slot blotting.
Results: Our results have found significant differences in glycoform ratio between CWD from Michigan and Colorado, but no differences were observed in conformational stability assays. Interestingly, when testing our CWD isolates from Texas to analyse electrophoretic mobility and glycoform ratio, we found that these samples did not exhibit the characteristic band shift when treated with PK, but PK resistant material remained. Additionally, results from our conformational stability assay demonstrate a unique profile of these Texas isolates. Testing of samples from Missouri is currently underway.
Conclusions: Thus far, our data indicate that there are strain differences between CWD circulating in Michigan and CWD in Colorado and provide important insight into CWD strain differences between two non-contiguous outbreaks. We have also identified a unique strain of CWD in Texas with biochemical strain properties not seen in any of our other CWD isolates. These results highlight the importance of continued surveillance to better understand this devastating disease. These results have important implications for CWD emergence, evolution and our understanding of prion strain heterogeneity on the landscape.
Implications of farmed-cervid movements on the transmission of chronic wasting disease Cite
ABSTRACT
Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that affects cervids with a clinical picture of muscle wasting in infected animals. The objective of this study was to quantify movement patterns of farmed cervids in the state of Minnesota as a model for identifying potential disease mitigation points. Time aggregated network analysis was performed on data consisting of 1221 intra-state cervid movements from farms located within Minnesota (n = 432 farms). Intra-state movements accounted for 48.2 % of all documented movements (2578) in Minnesota from 2013 to 2018; the remaining movements were inter-state. Annual networks were sparse in nature with low graph densities (6.9 × 10−4 - 1.4 × 10-3) and transitivity (0.06−0.12). Frequency of movements increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the months of September and October before decreasing in November, which coincided with the breeding and hunting seasons. Some of these contacts were as far as 500 km apart. The median length of infection chains for CWD positive farms was estimated to be 5.0 and 6.0 farms in-and out-going infection chains, respectively. A k-test analysis demonstrated that the observed median number of infected farms directly connected to other infected farms was 2.0, which was significantly higher than a fortuitous event (p = 0.002). Movements of cervids between farms were largely unpredictable with very low edge overlap (mean 0.02 %) from year to year, suggesting that persistent commercial relationships among farms were rare.
In conclusion, long distance trade movements present a risk for spread of chronic wasting disease in Minnesota. The sparse networks and unpredictable farm contacts could be because cervid production is not as vertically integrated as other species-differentiated and established industries, such as swine or poultry. Our analytical approach can be used to understand chronic wasting disease in other states in the U.S. and North America in general.
***> This is very likely to have parallels with control efforts for CWD in cervids.
Paper
Rapid recontamination of a farm building occurs after attempted prion removal
Kevin Christopher Gough BSc (Hons), PhD Claire Alison Baker BSc (Hons) Steve Hawkins MIBiol Hugh Simmons BVSc, MRCVS, MBA, MA Timm Konold DrMedVet, PhD, MRCVS … See all authors
First published: 19 January 2019 https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105054
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This study clearly demonstrates the difficulty in removing scrapie infectivity from the farm environment. Practical and effective prion decontamination methods are still urgently required for decontamination of scrapie infectivity from farms that have had cases of scrapie and this is particularly relevant for scrapiepositive goatherds, which currently have limited genetic resistance to scrapie within commercial breeds.24 This is very likely to have parallels with control efforts for CWD in cervids.
***>This is very likely to have parallels with control efforts for CWD in cervids.
***> Infectious agent of sheep scrapie may persist in the environment for at least 16 years
***> Nine of these recurrences occurred 14–21 years after culling, apparently as the result of environmental contamination, but outside entry could not always be absolutely excluded.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL VIROLOGY Volume 87, Issue 12
Infectious agent of sheep scrapie may persist in the environment for at least 16 years Free
Gudmundur Georgsson1, Sigurdur Sigurdarson2, Paul Brown3
Circulation of prions within dust on a scrapie affected farm
Kevin C Gough1 , Claire A Baker2 , Hugh A Simmons3 , Steve A Hawkins3 and Ben C Maddison2*
The sources of dust borne prions are unknown but it seems reasonable to assume that faecal, urine, skin, parturient material and saliva-derived prions may contribute to this mobile environmental reservoir of infectivity. This work highlights a possible transmission route for scrapie within the farm environment, and this is likely to be paralleled in CWD which shows strong similarities with scrapie in terms of prion dissemination and disease transmission. The data indicate that the presence of scrapie prions in dust is likely to make the control of these diseases a considerable challenge.
THE tse prion aka mad cow type disease is not your normal pathogen.
The TSE prion disease survives ashing to 600 degrees celsius, that’s around 1112 degrees farenheit.
you cannot cook the TSE prion disease out of meat.
you can take the ash and mix it with saline and inject that ash into a mouse, and the mouse will go down with TSE.
Prion Infected Meat-and-Bone Meal Is Still Infectious after Biodiesel Production as well.
the TSE prion agent also survives Simulated Wastewater Treatment Processes.
IN fact, you should also know that the TSE Prion agent will survive in the environment for years, if not decades.
you can bury it and it will not go away.
The TSE agent is capable of infected your water table i.e. Detection of protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a CWD-endemic area.
it’s not your ordinary pathogen you can just cook it out and be done with.
***> that’s what’s so worrisome about Iatrogenic mode of transmission, a simple autoclave will not kill this TSE prion agent.
1: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1994 Jun;57(6):757-8
***> Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to a chimpanzee by electrodes contaminated during neurosurgery.
Gibbs CJ Jr, Asher DM, Kobrine A, Amyx HL, Sulima MP, Gajdusek DC.
Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health,
Bethesda, MD 20892.
Stereotactic multicontact electrodes used to probe the cerebral cortex of a middle aged woman with progressive dementia were previously implicated in the accidental transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) to two younger patients. The diagnoses of CJD have been confirmed for all three cases. More than two years after their last use in humans, after three cleanings and repeated sterilisation in ethanol and formaldehyde vapour, the electrodes were implanted in the cortex of a chimpanzee. Eighteen months later the animal became ill with CJD. This finding serves to re-emphasise the potential danger posed by reuse of instruments contaminated with the agents of spongiform encephalopathies, even after scrupulous attempts to clean them.
PMID: 8006664 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
New studies on the heat resistance of hamster-adapted scrapie agent: Threshold survival after ashing at 600°C suggests an inorganic template of replication
Prion Infected Meat-and-Bone Meal Is Still Infectious after Biodiesel Production
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
Evaluation of the application for new alternative biodiesel production process for rendered fat including Category 1 animal by-products (BDI-RepCat® process, AT) ???
Detection of protease-resistant cervid prion protein in water from a CWD-endemic area
A Quantitative Assessment of the Amount of Prion Diverted to Category 1 Materials and Wastewater During Processing
Rapid assessment of bovine spongiform encephalopathy prion inactivation by heat treatment in yellow grease produced in the industrial manufacturing process of meat and bone meals
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2019
BSE infectivity survives burial for five years with only limited spread
Texas Kimble County Farm Chronic Wasting Disease CWD TSE Prion Approximate Herd Prevalence 12%
SUMMARY MINUTES OF THE 407th COMMISSION MEETING Texas Animal Health Commission
September 22, 2020
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD):
A new CWD positive breeding herd was disclosed in February 2020 in Kimble County. This herd depopulation was completed in July 2020. Including the two index positive deer, an additional eight more positive deer were disclosed (approximate herd prevalence 12%). Since July 2015 and prior to this discovery, five positive captive breeder herds have been disclosed and four of those are in Medina County. One herd in Lavaca and three herds in Medina County were depopulated leaving one large herd in Medina County that is managed on a herd plan. A new zone was established in Val Verde County in December 2019 as a result of a positive free-ranging White-tailed Deer (WTD). A second positive WTD was also disclosed in February 2020 in the same area.
For Immediate Release
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Dustin Vande Hoef 515/281-3375 or 515/326-1616 (cell) or Dustin.VandeHoef@IowaAgriculture.gov
TEST RESULTS FROM CAPTIVE DEER HERD WITH CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE RELEASED 79.8 percent of the deer tested positive for the disease
DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship today announced that the test results from the depopulation of a quarantined captive deer herd in north-central Iowa showed that 284 of the 356 deer, or 79.8% of the herd, tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The owners of the quarantined herd have entered into a fence maintenance agreement with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, which requires the owners to maintain the 8’ foot perimeter fence around the herd premises for five years after the depopulation was complete and the premises had been cleaned and disinfected
CWD is a progressive, fatal, degenerative neurological disease of farmed and free-ranging deer, elk, and moose. There is no known treatment or vaccine for CWD. CWD is not a disease that affects humans.
On July 18, 2012, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, IA confirmed that a male white tail deer harvested from a hunting preserve in southeast IA was positive for CWD. An investigation revealed that this animal had just been introduced into the hunting preserve from the above-referenced captive deer herd in north-central Iowa.
The captive deer herd was immediately quarantined to prevent the spread of CWD. The herd has remained in quarantine until its depopulation on August 25 to 27, 2014.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship participated in a joint operation to depopulate the infected herd with USDA Veterinary Services, which was the lead agency, and USDA Wildlife Services.
Federal indemnity funding became available in 2014. USDA APHIS appraised the captive deer herd of 376 animals at that time, which was before depopulation and testing, at $1,354,250. At that time a herd plan was developed with the owners and officials from USDA and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.
Once the depopulation was complete and the premises had been cleaned and disinfected, indemnity of $917,100.00 from the USDA has been or will be paid to the owners as compensation for the 356 captive deer depopulated.
The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship operates a voluntary CWD program for farms that sell live animals. Currently 145 Iowa farms participate in the voluntary program. The above-referenced captive deer facility left the voluntary CWD program prior to the discovery of the disease as they had stopped selling live animals. All deer harvested in a hunting preserve must be tested for CWD.
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Wisconsin Buckhorn Flats CWD
SUBJECT: Almond Deer Farm Update
The first case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) among Wisconsin's farm-raised deer occurred in a white-tailed deer buck shot by a hunter at the property (formerly known as Buckhorn Flats) in September 2002. This situation prompted the eventual depopulation of the entire farm.
The deer, a mix of does and yearlings, were destroyed on January 17, 2006- 4 years later- by U.S. Department of Agriculture shooters under a USDA agreement with the farm owner.
Sixty of the 76 animals tested positive for CWD. The 76 deer constituted the breeding herd in the breeding facility on the farm. The property also had a hunting preserve until 2005. Four deer, two does and two fawns, the only deer remaining in the former preserve, were killed and tested as well. CWD was not detected in those animals.
The total number of deer to test positive from this farm from the initial discovery to final depopulation is 82. The nearly 80% prevalence rate discovered on Buckhorn Flats is the highest prevalence recorded in any captive cervid operation in North America.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer
(Buckhorn Flats) Farm Update DECEMBER 2011 The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American captive herd. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approves the purchase of 80 acres of land for $465,000 for the Statewide Wildlife Habitat Program in Portage County and approve the restrictions on public use of the site.
Form 1100-001 (R 2/11) NATURAL RESOURCES BOARD AGENDA ITEM SUBJECT: Information Item: Almond Deer Farm Update FOR:
DECEMBER 2011 BOARD MEETING
TUESDAY TO BE PRESENTED BY TITLE: Tami Ryan, Wildlife Health Section Chief SUMMARY:
***> Thus, atypical scrapie is recognized as a separate, nonreportable disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
''as usual, OIE USDA et al put cart before horse, and put human and animal life at risk...terry''
FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021
Consultation: Draft VKM order on zoonotic potential in scrapie Singeltary Submission
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2020
***> EFSA Annual report of the Scientific Network on BSE-TSE 2020 Singeltary Submission
Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
